Lacson: No assurance 2021 budget passes on time if Senate gets GAB on Nov. 5

MANILA, Philippines — There is no assurance that the 2021 budget can be passed on time and that a reenacted budget will be avoided if the House of Representatives will transmit the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2021 to the Senate on November 5 or 6.

“If the House of Representatives’ transmittal of the General Appropriations Bill to the Senate will be on Nov. 5 or 6, there is no assurance that we can pass the budget on time and thus avoid a re-enacted budget,” Lacson said in a statement.

Lacson questioned the target date for transmittal of the GAB to the Senate, considering the expected approval of the appropriations bill on third and final reading at the lower chamber this Friday.

“As they have promised the President, they will approve the GAB on third and final reading today, Oct. 16, and it only takes one week to print, so why Nov. 5?” Lacson said.

“Not only is the delay unacceptable. It is difficult to understand unless there are plans to amend the bill after the third reading,” he added.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III earlier said he was informed that the House plans to submit the GAB, which contains the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget, to the Senate on November 5 or over two weeks after its third reading approval in the lower chamber.

He later said he spoke with House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and requested the latter to help facilitate the transmission of the GAB to the Senate on October 28 at the most.

He said Velasco had promised “best-effort” to comply with the request.

According to Lacson, the House leadership should be reminded to follow Article VI, Section 26 of the Constitution which says that “upon the last reading of a bill, no amendment thereto shall be allowed.”

“Amid promises of ‘best efforts’ to transmit the budget bill by end-October, if the House still ends up transmitting the bill on Nov. 5, does it mean that the description ‘House of the People’ is all lip service?” he added.

/MUF