DND wants P324.6-billion budget for 2027

BUDGET BRIEFING. Defense Secretary Gilberto 'Gibo' Teodoro Jr. faces the House appropriations committee for the Department of National Defense's proposed 2027 budget. Department of National Defense Facebook page The proposed Department of National Defense budget is 6.13% higher than its 2026 budget, but much lower than the P572.78 billion budget proposal that the agency had submitted to the Department of Budget and Management The Department of National Defense (DND) is proposing a budget of P324.6 billion for 2027, which is 6.13% higher than the 2026 budget but significantly lower than their initial request of P572.78 billion. The proposed budget allocates P179.45 billion for personnel services, P112.51 billion for maintenance and operating expenses, and P32.67 billion for capital outlays, with the latter being 86.37% less than requested. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro emphasized the need for strategic bases in the Pacific Ocean to enhance the Philippines' military presence and operational capabilities in key maritime areas. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. MANILA, Philippines – The Department of National Defense (DND) is seeking a P324.6-billion budget for 2027. The bulk or P179,453,324,000 of the proposed P324,632,679,000 DND budget is allotted to personnel services; P112,507,579,000 for maintenance and other operating expenses; and P32,671,776,000 for capital outlays (CO). The DND’s proposed budget is 6.13% higher than its 2026 budget, but much lower than the P572.78 billion budget proposal that the DND had submitted to the Department of Budget and Management. The DND’s CO under the proposed budget is 86.37% less than what the agency had asked for. At the House committee on appropriations hearing on the DND budget on Tuesday, August 25, Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. asked lawmakers to help the agency in relation to the DND’s slashed capital outlays. He made the request in response to the question of panel chair Mika Suansing on what crucial DND programs had been left out of the proposed 2027 budget. Here is a breakdown of the defense department’s proposed budget: Office of the Secretary proper: P1,599,118,000 Government arsenal: P2,242,304,000 National Defense College of the Philippines: P280,108,000 Office of Civil Defense: P2,537,208,000 Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO): Proper: P1,460,818,000 Veterans Medical Memorial Medical Center: P3,735,153,000 Philippine Army: P146,873,792,000 Philippine Air Force: P65,294,638,000 Philippine Navy: P70,465,725,000 General headquarters, AFP, and AFP-Wide Service Support Units (AFPWSSUS): P30,143,815,000 In submitting the government’s proposed P7.2-trillion budget for 2027, the DBM cited two defense sector-related items as among the budget “highlights”: the P73.7 billion in subsistence allowance for military and uniformed personnel, and P50 billion for the revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program. ‘Presence’ in Pacific Ocean During the budget hearing, Teodoro stressed the urgency of establishing “strategic bases” for the Philippines to have a “presence” in the Pacific Ocean. “Although the major focus right now naturally is the West Philippine Sea as an area of contest, a bigger domain is actually the Pacific Ocean and the Philippine Rise of which we must start already building our infrastructure, start our logistical bases in central areas that are accessible to the equipment that are germane to the AFP, and proceed to constructing our strategic bases which will allow us to have presence in that maritime domain,” Teodoro said in his presentation. Teodoro reiterated this while responding to questions from Akbayan Representative Dadah Kiram Ismula in relation to the West Philippine Sea. “Three strategic passages po ‘yan binabantayan: Verde Island Passage, of course, ‘yung Batanes Channel, Babuyan Channel, at saka Surigao Strait Passage, and Sulu Sea passage. ‘Yun po ang major transit points na actually nagdudugtong ng West Philippine Sea sa Pacific Ocean na tayo lang ang meron. So ito ang dapat focus ng ating operations na hindi natin magagawa nang lubos-lubusan kung wala tayong base,” he said. (We are watching over three strategic passages: Verde Island Passage, of course, the Batanes Channel, Babuyan Channel, the Surigao Strait Passage, and the Sulu Sea Passage. Those are the major transit points that actually connect the West Philippine Sea to the Pacific Ocean that are ours. So these should be the focus of our operations that we could not do as much as we could because we don’t have a base.) – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading