MANILA — The Education, Public Works and Highways and the National Defense departments continue to have the biggest allocation in the proposed Php3.002 trillion 2016 national budget, which President Benigno Aquino III approved Monday. Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Hermi-nio Coloma Jr., in a statement, said the planned national budget for next year is 15.2 percent higher than this year’s Php2.606 trillion and accounts to about 19.5 percent of the country’s total output. But while the Department of Education (Dep Ed) received the highest allocation, it is the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Health (DOH) that were given big increases. DepEd’s proposed budget for next year amounts to Php436.5 billion, or 18.9 percent higher than its Php367.1 billion budget this year. Meanwhile, the proposed budget for DPWH and DOH jumped by 32 percent and 25.2 percent, respectively. DPWH got a proposed budget amounting to Php401.14 billion from this year’s Php303.2 billion, while DOH’s budget for 2016 amounts to Php128.5 billion from Php103.9 billion this year. The bid to put in place necessary infrastructure were stressed by the President during the Cabinet meeting, Coloma said after the Chief Executive “directed all Cabinet members to intensify efforts at completing the delivery of programs, especially those on public infrastructure, including the rehabilitation of “Yolanda”-affected and other calamity areas.” Relatively, the proposed budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) next year amounts to Php172 billion, higher than this year’s Php144.5 billion; and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is Php156 billion from Php141.4 billion this year. On the other hand, proposed budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for next year amounts to Php107.6 billion, slighlty lower than its Php108.2 billion budget this year. The planned 2016 national budget is scheduled to be submitted to Congress on July 28, 2015, a day after the President delivers his final State of the Nation Address (SONA). Earlier, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said debt service under the proposed budget for next year accounts for 14 percent of the total budget at about Php419 billion. Relatively, Abad said infrastructure spending for next year was placed at Php768 billion, which already includes those for local government units (LGUs). (PNA)