Official seal of the House of Representatives
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives transmitted the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or the proposed 2024 national budget to the Senate, during the special session convened on Saturday.
At the plenary session intended to welcome and hear the address of Japan Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, Majority Leader and Zambaonga City 2nd District Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe moved to transmit House Bill (HB) No. 8980 to the Senate.
HB No. 8980 contains the GAB, which the House passed on third and final reading last September 27.
“Mr. Speaker, I move to immediately transmit to the Senate, House Bill No. 8980 as well as the resolutions that we have adopted,” Dalipe said.
The motion was approved by Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr., who presided over Saturday’s session.
HB No. 8980 was approved ahead of small committee’s amendments to the proposed budget, which saw the realignment of P194 billion worth of line items — including the P1.23 billion confidential funds (CF).
READ: House gives zero confidential funds to OVP, DepEd, DICT, DFA, DA
READ: How House removed, reduced the confidential funds of gov’t agencies
At least five agencies got zero funding for their CF requests for 2024:
- Office of the Vice President: P500 million
- Department of Information and Communications Technology: P300 million
- Department of Education: P150 million
- Department of Agriculture: P50 million
- Department of Foreign Affairs: P50 million
The House held a session on Saturday for Kishida’s visit, who will address the Philippine Congress at the Batasan Complex. Technically, Congress is still on a break as the session adjourned last September 30.
The regular session will officially resume on Monday, November 6.
Kishida’s presence at the House Session will only be the fifth time that the Philippine legislature will accord an honor to a visiting foreign leader.