Pia wants budget anchored on programs promoting SDGs

Senator Pia S. Cayetano is urging the country's top economic planning agency to come up with specific budgetary targets that would prioritize initiatives promoting sustainable and resilient growth in the post-COVID world.

The Chair of the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Innovation, and Futures Thinking, Cayetano led the panel's hearing on Thursday (July 16) to discuss the future of transportation during the New Normal and beyond.

The senator has been actively pushing for sustainable transportation, including the integration of mass transport systems with infrastructure that support personal modes of mobility, including walkways, bicycle parking facilities, and bike lanes.

During the hearing, Cayetano urged the National Economic and Development Academy (NEDA) to propose a budget strategy to achieve the country's growth targets under the United Nations' SDGs, as well as the Philippine government's AmBisyon Natin 2040.

"Given that NEDA is the agency tasked to oversee these goals, it would be very relevant for this committee if you can really put targets in terms of budgets to promote sustainability," she said.

The senator said realigning our budget to incentivize sustainable activities would allow the government to maximize its resources in a way that the country would "always move in the direction of sustainability."

"If there will be fewer counterproductive activities, then we might be able to spend more for sustainable ones. For instance, if we can reduce expenses in addressing the detrimental effects of pollution on our people's health, more resources could be used to build (green) infrastructure."

Cayetano also expressed her willingness to hold more dialogues and work with different agencies and other stakeholders in order to convince more decision-makers to pour funding and support for the achievement of the SDGs.

"These are discussions we need to have about budgeting for the SDGs [and] creating the right environment to promote investments that are sustainable in nature," the senator stressed.