Recto: PH to borrow P4b daily for 2024 budget

By Rio N. Araja and Macon Ramos-Araneta

BATANGAS Rep. Ralph Recto on Sunday said the country needs to borrow an average of P4 billion daily to sustain the proposed 2024 national budget of P5.767 trillion. He said next year’s budget translates to an average daily spending of P15.8 billion, of which only P11.7 billion is “supportable by revenues, leaving a P4 billion hole which must be plugged by debt.”

“To fully grasp the dimensions of the budget, you have to compute it on a daily basis, to fully appreciate the enormity of both spending and borrowings,” he said.

“In easy to remember figures, this is the lowdown: spend P15.8 billion a day but only P11.7 billion in tax can fund that. Therefore, there is a need to borrow P4 billion.”

“Now if that is based on the actual disbursements,

LISBON, Portugal—Seoul in South Korea will host the next World Youth Day, a major Catholic youth festival, in 2027, Pope Francis said Sunday at the close of this year's event in Lisbon.

"The next World Youth Day will be in Asia. It will be in South Korea in Seoul,” the pontiff told the faithful assembled to celebrate a Mass at a park on Lisbon's eastern outskirts.

"And so in 2027, from the western border of Europe, it will move to the

Far East, and this is a beautiful sign of the universality of the Church."

The Philippines was the last Asian country to host the Catholic festival in 1995.

The crowd of around 1.5 million flag-waving young pilgrims from around the globe erupted in cheers at the announcement.

World Youth Day, which is in fact a week-long Catholic jamboree,