House to transmit proposed 2021 budget to Senate by Oct. 28

MANILA, Philippines — As requested by senators, the House of Representatives will transmit to the Senate the proposed 2021 budget by October 28, appropriations chair Rep. Eric Yap said Friday.

Yap said the initial copy that will be sent to the Senate is not yet the hard copy that is usually transmitted to the Senate by the House following the approval of the budget in the lower chamber.

“Yung October 28 kung gusto ni Senate President and nasabi ni Speaker, syempre di ko pwedeng ipahiya ang Speaker ko. It will be October 28,” Yap said in an interview.

(If the Senate President and the Speaker wants it to be submitted by October 28, of course I cannot embarrass my Speaker. It will be October 28.)

“But hindi siya yung hard copy. Kung ano yung sinubmit namin sa NPO (National Printing Office), ‘yun yung ibibigay namin sa kanya which is yung print lang, yung sa white paper lang,” he added.

(But that won’t be the hard copy. Whatever we submit to the NPO, that’s what we will submit to them which is the print only, the white paper.)

Yap said the proposed 2021 budget, which is being tackled on the plenary floor as of posting time, will be approved on second and third reading on Friday.

Once the proposed budget has been approved, government agencies will be asked to submit their amendments. A smaller committee will then review this before the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) is encoded, printed, and transmitted to the Senate.

“Pipilitin natin kung yun ang gusto ni Senate President. Siguro gagawa kami ng paraan para mabigay sa kanila,” Yap said.

(We will push for it if that’s what the Senate President wants. We will find a way to give it to them.)

“Ngayon pag nagreklamo pa sila don eh wala na kong masasabi talaga dun. Suko na ko. Taas na ang kamay ko,” he added.

(But if they will still complain, then I cannot say anything anymore. I give up. I put up my hands and surrender.)

During Thursday’s plenary session, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he got information that the lower chamber supposedly plans to submit to the Senate a printed copy of the House-approved General Appropriations Bill (GAB) more than two weeks after it is expected to pass it on third reading.

Several senators feared that some congressmen may add post-approval amendments to the spending bill and that the upper chamber would not have enough time to deliberate on it.

Nonetheless, Yap believes the Senate is not blaming the House over budget issues.

“Unang una, di mangyayari yun kasi maipapasa namin. And then pangalawa yung gusto ni Senate President October 28 susundin namin. So no reason to blame us. But I don’t think sinisisi kami. Sinasabi lang naman nila siguro yung preference nila so we will comply,” Yap said.

(We will be able to submit it. Secondly, if the Senate President wants it by October 28, we will follow, so no reason to blame us. But I don’t think they are blaming us, they are just saying their preference so we will comply.)

/MUF