MANILA, Philippines—The House of Representatives in the early hours of Saturday passed on second reading the proposed national budget of P1.4 trillion for 2009, 15.4 percent bigger than the 2008 budget.

Voting viva voce, congressmen unanimously approved the budget after a marathon hearing that began 10 a.m. Friday and ended 3:34 a.m. Saturday. Speaker Prospero Nograles thanked them for passing what he called as his first budget as leader of the House.

Congressmen were tasked to make their individual amendments and submit them on October 14. The third and final reading is expected when Congress resumes session on November 10.

Earlier, House majority leaders said they favored realigning certain amounts to bolster the budgets for education and health, saying there was need to strengthen social services in the face of the current world financial crisis. Party-list representatives grilled officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of National Defense.

Toward the end, senior deputy minority leader Darlene Antonino-Custodio said members of the minority were tired after the daylong session and forgoing debates on "lump-sum" programs.

She asked the Committee on Appropriations to adopt a measure so House members would be informed of the fund releases, and appropriations committee chairman Junie Cua said his panel would "promptly comply" and give them a copy of the breakdown of the special-purpose funds.

Representative Salvador Escudero of Sorsogon moved to end the period of interpellation and debate, and the session was adjourned at 3:36 a.m.

The proposed budget retains the "pork barrel" allocation for senators and congressmen, officially known as the Presidential Development Assistance Fund, at P6.24 billion. It also includes P302.65 billion — about 21 percent of the total budget — for debt servicing.

The proposed budget allocates the following for government agencies:

• Department of Education - P167.9 billion

• Department of Public Works and Highway - P120 billion

• Department of Interior and Local Government - P61.9 billion

• Department of National Defense - P61.5 billion

• Department of Agriculture - P39.7 billion

• Department of Health - P27.8 billion

• Department of Transportation and Communications - P23.6 billion

• Department of Agrarian Reform - P16.1 billion

• Department of Finance - P13.8 billion

• Judiciary - P12.8 billion.

Local government units will get a total of P249.98 billion, about 18 percent of the total budget.