President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the submission to Congress of P4.1-trillion proposed budget for next year.

Duterte made the approval during the Cabinet meeting on Monday night in Malacanang.

"This budget proposal is designed to respond to the needs of the majority of our countrymen longing to be uprooted from the decades of: want of basic necessities, inadequate supply of basic services, lack of infrastructures required to spur economic growth, absence of accountability on government coffers, vexing bureaucratic rigmarole, deprived education and unchanged poverty, and geared to achieve a more peaceful and progressive Philippines where the living standards of Filipinos are raised," said Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo in a statement.

In a separate statement, the Department of Budget and Management said it would be finalizing the Fiscal Year 2020 National Expenditure Program and other budget documents for submission to Congress before the 30-day constitutional deadline, which would fall on August 21.

According to Panelo, education would receive the biggest slice of the budget, followed by public works, transportation, and health.

He assured that the government would spend the people's money wisely.

Next year's proposed budget would be a record high and first time to breach P4-trillion level.

This year, the government is operating under the P3.757-trillion budget which was approved in April. Celerina Monte/DMS