MANILA, Philippines -- There will be no cut in the proposed P1.415 trillion national budget for 2009, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile said on Thursday.

With the continued global economic crisis, Enrile said the country has to spend money to provide jobs for Filipinos abroad, who might be repatriated to the country.

“No, we will not slash the budget,” he told reporters.

“We need the budget. We need to spend to provide jobs for those who would be repatriated,” he said.

But Enrile said there would be some re-alignments in the proposed budget to augment the appropriations for education, health, agriculture and infrastructure projects.

“We will give up additional funding for research. We have to conduct research in this country so that we will be self-sufficient from other countries in terms of science and technology,” said Enrile.

Enrile, chairman of the finance committee, has promised to hold marathon hearings to ensure the approval of the budget before Congress takes a break next month.