Solon: System in place to tackle budget efficiently, pass it before October

Official seal of the House of Representatives

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will be employing a system that would allow them to hold deliberations on the proposed 2023 national budget efficiently and then approve it before Congress goes on a recess by October, the Majority Floor Leader said.

Zamboanga 2nd District Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe on Monday said that he has already organized three teams to ensure a seamless flow of discussions once the proposed budget reaches the plenary.

Three teams, composed of deputy majority leaders and assistant majority leaders, have been created in coordination with the House committee on appropriations and its chairperson, Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co.

“We have already coordinated with our teams in the committee on rules. We have prepared three teams (composed of Deputy Majority Leaders and Assistant Majority Leaders) and we are ready for the plenary deliberations on the budget,” Dalipe said after the House formally accepted the proposed budget from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)

“We are also closely coordinating with the committee on appropriations in order to facilitate our members who would want to fully discuss the budget,” he added.

According to Dalipe, the appropriations committee has also placed a system that allows lawmakers to address parochial concerns or points involving the district or sector they represent during the committee-level hearings of each agency.

The policy concerns, meanwhile, would be addressed in the plenary.

“The committee on appropriations has already made the process where pre-budget deliberations are being held so that our parochial concerns will be addressed in the committee hearings and the policy questions will be addressed in the plenary deliberations,” he noted.

“We only have one thing to do and that is to pass this budget, the General Appropriations Bill. If there is any law that is required for us to act on and that is the General Appropriations Bill. We have prepared for this, we have arranged the teams and we will not be remiss in our job to properly scrutinize the budget,” he added.

Dalipe and other House officials from the Majority, like the committee on appropriations senior vice chairperson and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo, had already assured the public that the House would pass the budget on September 30, or before Congress goes on a recess.

This would give the Senate time to deliberate the budget and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. time to scrutinize and sign it before the year ends.

READ: House leaders expect to pass 2023 budget before October recess 

Usually, failure to enact a budget before the year ends results in a reenacted budget, which administration officials in recent years have tried — and somehow managed to avoid.

Earlier, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman turned over the proposed P5.268 trillion budget to House leaders, including Speaker and Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Dalipe, and Quimbo — fulfilling the executive’s promise to hand the National Expenditure Program within the prescribed timeline.

READ: DBM chief vows to hand Congress P5.268-T 2023 budget by Aug. 22 | House formally receives proposed 2023 budget from DBM 

Under the 2023 proposed budget, the education sector still has the largest share with P852.8 billion, while the allocation for the agriculture sector rises by 39.2 percent compared to the current year.

READ: Education gets P852-B in proposed 2023 budget; allocation for agri rises by 39.2% 

With reports from Catherine Dabu, INQUIRER.net trainee

JPV/abc