Manila, Jan. 15 (BNA) Congress has increased this year’s budget for the Armed Forces Modernization Program (AFPMP) by Php6 billion (US$110,239,868), bringing the total new appropriations to Php45 billion.
“In all, there are 45 billion pesos for the AFPMP in the 2023 national budget — 27.5 billion pesos in programmed appropriations plus 17.5 billion pesos in non-programmed appropriations,” Surigao del Sur deputy Johnny Pimentel said in a press release on Sunday.
The PNA news agency reported that the 45 billion pesos is more than 6 billion pesos over the 39 billion pesos in programmed and unprogrammed appropriations for the AFPMP in 2022.
Pimentel said the Department of Budget and Administration originally requested only Php40 billion in programmed and unprogrammed appropriations for the AFPMP this year.
“We are confident that the government will find the funds to fund this year’s unscheduled appropriations for the AFPMP,” he said.
Programmed appropriations have funding sources, while unprogrammed appropriations provide reserve authority for the Department of National Defense (DND) to sign additional contracts for modernization projects, depending on available government funds, including borrowed funds.