Tiniyak ni House Majority Leader at Zamboanga Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe na nakasuporta ang majority bloc ng Kamara sa pahayag ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. noong kanyang state of the nation address (SONA), na suportahan ang ating Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) at iba pang ahensya na nagbabantay sa West Philippine Sea.
Sa pulong balitaan sa Kamara, natanong si Dalipe kung magkakaroon din ba ng dagdag na pondo ang Coast Guard at iba pang security agencies sa ilalim ng 2025 proposed national budget.
“The policy is always being set by the president and we take guidance from his state of the nation address and everyone in the House knows how the president gives importance of defending our national territory and integrity. So, we in the House of Representatives take you from the pronouncement of President Bongbong Marcos and no doubt, I think each member of the Majority block would be in full support of the President in giving more support to the Philippines Coast Guard and all other agencies that would help protect, those especially our fisherfolks in the West Philippine Sea. So, susuportahan po namin yung pronouncement ni presidente.” sabi ni Dalipe.
Maging si House Deputy Speaker at Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. sinabi na, nang sila ay bumisita sa Masinloc Zambales para alamin ang kalagayan ng mga mangingisda doon ay napagkasunduan na bigyan ng dagag na pondo hindi lang ang PCG ngunit maging ang BFAR.
“We were in Masinloc last – I think two months ago, and one of our topic and discussion to increase the budget of this Philippine Coast Guard and the BFAR as far as the fisherfolks are concerned. So, yun po yung napag usapan, palagay ko po on our budget deliberation, we will tackle that issue.” pagbabahagi ni Gonzales.
Batay sa 2025 NEP, ang Defense sector ay pinaglaanan ng P419.3 billion na pondo o 50.8 percent na mas mataas mula sa 2024 National Budget.
Kasama dito ang P50 billion na alokasyon para sa revised AFP Modernization Program upang mapalakas pa ang kapabilidad ng AFP, at protektahan ang ating territorial integrity lalo na dahil sa mga kaganapan sa West Philippine Sea.
Ang Philippine Coast Guard ay binigyan naman ng kabuuang P31.3 billion na pondo. | ulat ni Kathleen Forbes
