Bicameral committee approves 2013 budget

Sen. Franklin Drilon. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines— The proposed P2.006 trillion national budget for 2013 has been approved in the congressional bicameral conference committee, Senator Franklin Drilon said on Wednesday.

Drilon, chairman of the Senate committee on finance, said the bicameral committee report was signed by members of both panels of the Senate and the House of Representatives after they met at the Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City.

“It reflects the thrust of the President on social services,” he told reporters.

“The highest allocation would be for education and likewise the Conditional Cash Transfer and the Department of Health,” Drilon said.

The Department of Public Works and Highways, he said, was also given a “sufficient” budget to pursue the infrastructure programs of the Aquino administration.

Drilon said the proposed budget had been reduced by P100 million to reflect Senator Panfilo Lacson’s request not to avail his priority development assistance fund (PDAF).

“That was deleted from the budget to make sure that it’s not used,” Drilon said of Lacson’s PDAF.

Each senator is usually given P200 million allocation but Lacson’s term in the Senate will end in May 2013.

The approved budget in the bicameral conference committee will now then be returned to the Senate and the House for ratification before it is submitted to President Benigno Aquino III for signature.

Drilon was confident that the President would sign the budget bill on or before Congress goes on a Christmas break on December 21, 2012.

Originally posted at 10:51 am | Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012