MANILA, Philippines — After recalling its initial approval, the House of Representatives once again approved on second reading the proposed 2021 national budget.
During the last day of the special session on Friday, House members approved House Bill No. 7727 or the 2021 General Appropriations Bill which contains the proposed budget for next year.
This means that the proposed budget only needs to hurdle final reading before it can be transmitted to the Senate for further scrutiny.
To recall, this was not the first time that the proposed 2021 budget was approved on second reading in the lower chamber.
On October 6, then-Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano moved to terminate the period of debates and amendments to the proposed funding and proposed the creation of a smaller committee “with full powers to entertain committee as well as individual amendments by the members.”
With the period of debates and amendments closed, the proposed 2021 budget was approved on second reading on that day.
While the second reading approval came earlier than expected, the session was suspended until November 16—essentially delaying the third reading approval of the measure which was initially set on October 16.
The move to suspend the session earlier than scheduled seemed to have earned the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte who called for a special session from October 13 to 16 to avoid delays in passing the national budget for next year.
Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado earlier said that the proposed 2021 budget focuses on government spending on improving the country’s healthcare systems, ensuring food security, creating more jobs by investing in labor-intensive projects, enabling a digital government and economy, and helping communities cope.