Dec. 14 signing of budget seen

MANILA, Philippines—In what could be the swiftest passage yet of the appropriations measure, the proposed P1.816-trillion national budget for next year will be ready for President Benigno Aquino III’s signature by Dec. 14.

Sen. Franklin Drilon, chairman of the finance committee, on Thursday mentioned the target date saying there were no major discrepancies in the versions of the budget bill passed separately by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“We are confident to bring the budget to President Aquino by Dec. 14 and that should give the President and the budget management (office) enough time to go over and sign it before the year is over,” he said in a press conference.

Representatives of both chambers of Congress have begun reconciling their versions of the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2012 in a bicameral conference committee. Drilon said they would continue working over the weekend and would have the measure ready for ratification on Tuesday.

“Not that much (when it comes to differences). It’s just a matter of each side explaining why they had a particular amendment in a particular item. I’m certain that by Tuesday, Nov. 29, we should be able to present the bicam report to both chambers,” he said.

A “contentious issue” would be the provision in the House version of the bill requiring that any unspent allocation for salary should be returned to the national treasury. Drilon said the Senate deleted this provision.

He said the Senate version instead required constitutional agencies such as the Supreme Court and the Office of the Ombudsman to submit a quarterly report on how they spent their respective budgets for salaries.

The report would be submitted to President Aquino and Congress.