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Proposed 2024 national budget reaches Senate plenary: Sen. Sonny Angara, chairperson of the Committee on Finance, sponsors the proposed 2024 National Expenditure Program Tuesday, November 7, 2023. The proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 is P5.768 trillion, which is equivalent to 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. In his sponsorship speech, Angara said the goals of the 2024 proposed budget remains the same from last year -- to pursue the agenda for prosperity framed by the eight-point socioeconomic agenda of the administration, buttressed by the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF) that Congress adopted early on, and encapsulated by the 2022-2028 Philippine Development Plan (PDP). The proposed 2024 budget would also focus on enhancing the Philippines’ capabilities to safeguard national security, to maintain territorial integrity, and to uphold the country’s sovereignty. “We believe that despite some limitations, the budget meets this benchmark. And with our collective improvements and amendments, we have endeavored to make it even better. For we are not here, Mr. President, to simply ratify what the other branch has proposed. But to enhance it, fill in its gaps, correct its weaknesses and cure its shortcomings. To do nothing less than what the Constitution and our constituents expect this august chamber to do,” Angara said. (Bibo Nueva España / Senate PRIB)