Recto: 2019 budget will get Congress nod next week

Senator Ralph Recto INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Congress will pass the 2019 budget next week, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said on Thursday.

Recto’s assurance came even after Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III proposed to just reenact the 2018 budget as “pork” allegations continue to delay the passage of this year’s appropriation.

READ: ‘Sick and tired’ of pork talk, Sotto moves for reenacted budget

Sotto could not say yet however if the Senate will adopt his proposal.

“It depends on the report of Sen. Loren which she will give to me after talking to the executive department,” Sotto said in a text message.

She was referring to Senator Loren Legarda, who, as chair of the committee on finances, heads the Senate contingent in the bicameral conference on the 2019 budget.

Sotto said he had yet to get feedback from Recto, who was tasked to meet with the House of Representatives contingent Wednesday night.

Asked about the meeting, Recto expressed confidence that the Senate and the House would come up with a “compromise” and approve the budget before Congress adjourns next week.

“I am confident bicam will produce a compromise. We will pass a budget by next week,” he said in a separate text message.

When asked if the said compromise pertains to so-called “institutional amendments” earlier raised during the bicam, Recto said: “On all. Institutional and individual/constituency concerns.”

During the bicam, Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. revealed that the Senate has around P190-billion worth of amendments in the budget bill while the House has P50 to P60 billion.

Andaya is chair of the House committee on appropriations.

But Legarda quickly clarified that the P189.2 billion amendments of the Senate were vetted “institutional amendments” or requests by government agencies. /cbb

READ: 2019 budget: Senate, House to re-prioritize P50 B