Senate OKs P3 trillion national budget for 2016 on 3rd reading
With only one objection, the Senate approved on the third and final reading Thursday the proposed P3.002 trillion national budget next year.
Fourteen senators voted to approve the budget while Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III voted against it. No senator abstained.
The 14 senators who approved the budget were Senate President Franklin Drilon, Senators Loren Legarda, Ralph Recto, Grace Poe, Francis Escudero, Sergio Osmena, Pia Cayetano, JV Ejercito, Teofisto Guingona III, Antonio Trillanes IV, Bam Aquino, Nancy Binay, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile.
The Senate version of the budget bill adopted Enrile’s proposal to double the budget of the Office of the Vice President, from the proposed P230.512 billion to P500 million or an increase of P269.4 million.
READ: Enrile proposes to raise OVP’s 2016 budget to P500 million
Pimentel, who had a falling out with Vice President Jejomar Binay, objected to the additional budget of the OVP, saying it had no justification.
Also with Enrile’s prodding, the chamber raised the budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) from P115.854 billion to P126.641 billion, or a net increase of P10.7 billion.
The chamber also adopted the House of Representatives’ approved P16 billion budget of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which contained a P500 million allocation for the Electronic Results Transmission, Management and Services of the Commission on Elections (ERTSMS).
The P500 million budget was earlier deleted by the Senate committee on finance being headed by Senator Loren Legarda, but the latter agreed to restore it upon the request of the Comelec.
Senate President Franklin Drilon earlier said the budget for the ERTSMS would speed up the transmission of the election results.
From P33.365 billion, the chamber also raised the budgets of the State Universities and Colleges to P37.6 billion, or an increase of P4.2 billion, and the Department of Public Works and Highways from P378.3 billion to P382.4 billion, or an increase of P4 billion.
The Senate, meanwhile, slashed the Unprogrammed Fund from P67.5 billion to P47.5 billion (a P20 billion decrease), and the Special Purpose Funds by P18.5 billion–from P419.5 billion to P401.03 billion. It also reduced the Contingent Fund by P1 billion–from P4 billion to P3 billion.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development was also slashed by P1.7 billion–from P109 billion to P107.2 billion.
