House Majority Leader Rodolfo “Rudy” Fariñas. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The House of Representatives is expected to approve on second reading Tuesday the proposed P3.767 trillion national budget in 2018.
In a message to reporters, House Majority Leader Rudy Fariñas said the lower House will approve the budget on second reading Tuesday tonight.
This means the lower House is expected to wrap up its plenary debates on the budget that started last week.
Fariñas said the budget can only be approved on third and final reading after the printing of the appropriation with amendments, even as President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent House Bill 6215 or the national appropriation for 2018.
A bill which gets the President’s certification may be passed on second and third reading on the same session day.
READ: Duterte submits proposed 2018 budget to Congress right after Sona
“We will only approve it on second reading tonight, and on third reading when it will already be printed with all the amendments, which will take a week or two,” Fariñas said.
In a letter addressed to Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Duterte wrote to Congress certifying as urgent House Bill 6215, pursuant to his powers under Article VI, Section 26 (2) of the 1987 Constitution.
The portion of the Constitution reads: “No bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate days, and printed copies thereof in its final form have been distributed to its members three days before its passage, except when the President certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency.”
READ: Alvarez all for fast-tracking plenary debates on 2018 budget
In his letter to Congress, Duterte said he signed the certification “in order to address the need to maintain continuous government operations following the end of the current fiscal year, to expedite the funding of various programs, projects and activities for FY 2018, and to ensure budgetary preparedness that will enable the government to effectively perform its Constitutional mandate. /jpv