THE Senate has calendared floor deliberations on the proposed P5.268 trillion national budget and will start with its two-week marathon discussions with the sponsorship today of the chamber’s version of the appropriations measure.
SEN. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairperson of the Senate finance committee, said Congress is eyeing the ratification of the 2023 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) by the first week of December.
“Once (the budget bill is) approved, the bicameral conference committee meetings will be held to reconcile the conflicting versions of the House and Senate GABs. The target is to have the bicameral committee report ratified by December 5,” Angara said.
Angara said he will sponsor his panel’s report on the budget bill this afternoon.
He said plenary debates on the general principles of the 2023 GAB will start Wednesday morning, while deliberations on the proposed appropriations of the different government offices will commence in the afternoon.
The upper chamber will hold morning and afternoon sessions to enable it to meet its target of submitting the final version of the budget measure to President Marcos by yearend.
Among the agencies lined up for the first day of plenary debates are the Department of Budget and Management, Budgetary Support to Government Corporations, allocation to local government units, contingent funds, the DBM’s miscellaneous personnel benefits fund, National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Funds, Pension and Gratuity Fund, and unprogrammed appropriations.
The proposed budgets of the Department of Finance, National Economic Development Authority, and joint legislative-executive councils will also be discussed on Wednesday afternoon.
“The interpellations will continue on Thursday. There is no scheduled session on Friday (Nov. 11). The interpellations are expected to last until Wednesday the following week (November 16), after which the finance committee will accept and compile the individual amendments of the senators. Approval of the Senate version of the GAB is expected to be on November 21,” Angara said.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said the target date of the Senate to approve the budget measure is on or before November 30.
He said that once the plenary discussions start, committee hearings are discouraged so senators can focus well on passing the proposed national budget.
He said even the scheduled Commission on Appointments hearings on November 22 and 23 will be suspended.
Zubiri assured the Palace that the budget bill will be passed on time, adding that there will be no reenacted budget for next year.
“We are going to assure the public that we will not have reenacted budget. We like the signing of the budget bill before Christmas,” Zubiri said in a mix of Filipino and English.
Zubiri said Angara has said that lumpsum appropriations in the National Expenditure Program will be detailed under the Senate version of the GAB.
