THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has started seeking President Duterte's approval on the proposed P5.024-trillion 2022 national budget.

The budget department submitted on Monday the memorandum to the President to seek his approval of the 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

"The Memo for the President highlights the important features of the NEP and we are submitting it to OP today [Monday]," Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado told BusinessMirror in a text message on Monday.

Budget Assistant Secretary and spokesman Rolando U. Toledo also confirmed that the memorandum was sent on Monday.

Avisado also vowed to submit the NEP to Congress within the deadline stipulated under the Constitution.

"We are in the process of having the Memo for the President for the approval of the NEP signed by PRRD [President Rodrigo Roa Duterte] first then we will prepare the President's Budget Message and have the NEP printed out and thereafter submit it to Congress within the period prescribed by the Constitution," he said.

The Executive branch has 30 days from the opening of the regular session of Congress to make the submission to lawmakers. This means they need to submit the 2022 NEP on or before August 25.

Last week, the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) approved the expenditure ceiling of the 2022 proposed national budget at P5.024 trillion. This is higher by 11.5 percent than the proposed national budget last year at P4.506 trillion.

The DBCC earlier said the proposed 2022 national budget will continue to invest in building the country's resilience amid the pandemic by prioritizing funding for  Covid-19 response measures, such as health-care development and social services, while also ramping up economic growth through investments in public infrastructure.

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