MANILA (UPDATE)- The Department of Budget and Management submitted to lawmakers on Tuesday the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said.

President Rodrigo Duterte last month approved the proposed P4.506-trillion expenditure plan for next year, which aims to ensure food security and increase investments in public and digital infrastructure as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The proposed spending plan is 9.9 percent higher than the P4.1 trillion budget for 2020, and is equivalent to 21.8 percent of the country's gross domestic product, the DBM earlier said.

As mandated by law, the biggest bulk of the budget will be spent on education at P754.4 billion, followed by public works at P667.3 billion.

The budget department in a statement said the proposed 2021 national budget remains anchored on the government's goal to help the country recover quickly from the pandemic.

"Hence, the bulk of next year’s proposed budget will be provided to the social services sector amounting to P1.664 trillion, equivalent to 36.9 percent," it said.

"This includes funding support for programs related to health, social protection, and education. The economic services sector will receive the second highest allocation with P1.347 trillion or 29.9 percent of the proposed budget," it added.

Congress last week ratified government's second coronavirus response measure or the Bayanihan to Recover as One bill as the country plunged into recession for the first time in nearly 30 years following one of the longest and strictest lockdowns in the world to curb the pandemic.

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