Malacañang hails Senate approval of 2020 budget bill

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang welcomed on Wednesday the Senate’s unanimous approval on third and final reading of the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020.

Twenty-two of 24 senators voted to approve the  2020 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) with no abstentions or negative votes.

“The Office of the President welcomes this development given that this budget per the Department of Budget and Management, aims to fund programs and projects that will help accelerate investments in public infrastructure, improve anti-poverty measures, and intensify employment generation,” Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

After the approval in the upper chamber, the Senate and the House of Representatives will then convene in a bicameral conference committee to reconcile their versions of the budget bill.

Panelo said the Executive Branch is hoping that the bicameral conference committee “would be able to arrive at a considered decision in reconciling the conflicting provisions found in the two versions of its respective houses without prolonged partisan discussion and undue delay.”

He also assured the public that President Rodrigo Duterte will “carefully scrutinize” the budget bill once it reaches his office to ensure that it would be in “accordance with the imperatives of the Constitution and responsive to the needs of the Filipino people.”