Senate eyes 2023 budget approval before Dec
By Nidz Godino
“Right now we are on break but there are ongoing committee hearings, which will be over next week…we plan that by Nov. 7 we will have plenary debates from morning to evening…we are here 12 or 13 hours a day until we finish the budget,” Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri leaving no chance for reenacted budget, the Senate is set on approving the record P5.268-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2023 by the end of November. Zubiri asserted budget timeline is right on schedule. When media asked if there was any possibility of reenacated budget, he answered “absolutely none.”
“We will follow the schedule…what we want is that by end of November, there will be approval of the GAA on the second and third reading,” Zubiri stressed.
Boosting his confidence is the fact that Senate committee on finance, chaired by Sen. Sonny Angara, has been conducting briefings even as Congress went on a break since Sept. 30. Session resumes officially on Nov. 7.
So far, Angara’s committee and sub-committees have approved and submitted budgets of several departments and agencies for plenary deliberations.
Among them are the Departments of Justice, Information and Communications Technology, Interior and Local Government, and Labor and Employment and the Commission on Audit (COA).
On Monday, Senate is set to conduct budget briefing of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Office of the President, among others.
All things considered, Zubiri foresees the latest time to get budget approved by bicameral conference committee in the second week of December.
“We’re on track… we don’t see any major obstacles to pass the budget,” he said. “Sen. Angara is doing a great job, just like all other subcommittee chairpersons. I don’t think we will have a big problem.”
Asked to describe 2023 GAA, the Senate President said designed for “recovery and revenue generation” as country advances from economic scourge caused by COVID-19 pandemic.
“The direction of the national budget is first of all, thrifty and save where they can save…continue revenue collections, plugging leaks, eliminate corruption to ensure money will go to government operations and belt-tightening and fight inflation,” he said.
Zubiri acknowledged an anticipated higher deficit next year. “We will borrow again to pay expenditure, we will double effort for revenue collection,” he said.
“This phenomenon is not only in the Philippines…inflation is not only in the country but the entire region like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia…people in Indonesia are staging rallies due to high prices of oil,” he added.
In the House of Representatives, Speaker Martin Romualdez told reporters he expects bicameral conference committee to be final battleground for approval of the national budget, including P77.5 billion in funds realigned mostly for health and education sectors.
“There were refinements across the board,” said Romualdez, referring to the realignments made by small committee he formed, composed of Reps. Zaldy Co and Stella Luz Quimbo, chairman and senior vice chairperson of the House appropriations committee, Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe and Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan.
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