MANILA: President Rodrigo Duterte has announced a sharp increase in next year’s national budget to fund his controversial war on crime, with security forces to get big pay rises. In announcing a 3.35-trillion-peso ($72.3 billion) 2017 budget, up 11.6 percent from this year, Duterte said late on Monday a top priority for the increased government spending would be “more effective crime suppression”. Duterte is also planning a 15-percent rise in the military budget, to 130.6 billion pesos. The first Duterte budget continues the double-digit annual rises seen during the term of predecessor Benigno Aquino. Congress has to approve the budget, but this is widely expected to be a formality due to a huge majority of Duterte allies in both chambers.

Source: Manila Times August 16, 2016 06:22 UTC