President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. | PHOTO: Pres. Bongbong Marcos’ official Facebook page
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has certified as urgent House Bill No. 8980, which contains the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or the P5.768 trillion proposed 2024 national budget.
In a message addressed to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Wednesday — which was read at the plenary session — President Marcos said that he has certified the GAB as urgent to ensure that government operations continue after 2023.
“Pursuant to the provisions of Article VI, Section 28 (2) of the 1987 Constitution, I hereby certify to the necessity of the immediate enactment of House Bill No. 8980,” Marcos said in his message.
“[…] in order to address the need to maintain continuous government operations following the end of the current fiscal year (FY), to expedite the funding of various programs, projects, and activities for FY 2024, and to ensure budgetary preparedness that will enable the government to effectively perform its constitutional mandate,” the Chief Executive added.
With Marcos’ certification, the House can disregard the three-session day requirement before bills approved on second reading can be considered for third reading.
This means the House has until the last session day — September 29 — to debate on the proposed 2024 national budget, as they can approve it on second reading and pass it on third reading on the same day.
House committee on appropriations officials, particularly chairperson and Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co and senior vice chair and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo vow to expedite the creation of the budget and approve it by September 27.
The House has been holding budget debates at the plenary for two days now, starting earlier than normal at 9:00 a.m. Under the schedule from the appropriations panel, plenary debates would last until September 27.
Per-agency hearings at the committee level started last August 10, as the Department of Budget and Management was able to submit the National Expenditures Program early.