MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte has extended the availability of the 2019 national budget until 2020, following a delay in the passage of the spending bill this year.
Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11464 on December 20, 2019, a copy of which was released to the media on Thursday.
It extends the validity of the appropriations under the 2019 national spending plan until Dec. 31, 2020.
Lawmakers earlier warned that all unused appropriations for 2019 will go back to the National Treasury if the extension will not be passed.
This is after Duterte issued Executive Order 91, which states that appropriations for capital outlays and maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) for 2019 “shall be valid for obligation until December 31, 2019.”
The ₱3.7-trillion 2019 budget was signed by the President in April, months after lawmakers’ debates on alleged “insertions”.