Angara assures no ‘pork’ in proposed 2021 national budget

Sen. Sonny Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, defends the proposed national budget for 2021 during the hybrid plenary session in November 11, 2020. (Albert Calvelo/Senate PRIB file photo)

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sonny Angara assured Wednesday there are no “pork” allocations in the bicameral conference committee’s version of the proposed national budget for 2021.

Angara made the remark after the bicam adopted and approved its version of the proposed national budget for 2021, which is seen to drive the country’s pandemic and calamity response and recovery efforts.

“We complied with the Supreme Court decision on the pork barrel. We avoided lump sum as much as possible, we tried to itemize them… I think we complied with that,” Angara told reporters.

“In terms of pork barrel, there is no post-enactment identification or participation on the part of legislators,” the senator added.

In order for the national budget to be submitted to the Office of the President for approval, the bicam version of the budget bill has to be ratified first by both the Senate and the House.

Both chambers are expected to ratify the 2021 budget bill on Wednesday afternoon.

House appropriations chair Eric Yap earlier said the target was to transmit the 2021 budget bill to Malacañang for the President’s signature by December 18 or December 21, at the latest.

JPV