Go: Senate to speed up passage of 2020 budget
Credit to Author: THE MANILA TIMES| Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2019 08:22:09 +0000
THE Senate will hasten the passage of the proposed P4.1-trillion budget for 2020, Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Wednesday said, assuring the public that senators were moving to avert a repeat of the 2019 budget deadlock.
Go, President Rodrigo Duterte’s long-time aide, said that senators would have the proposed budget on the desk of the President by December.
“Alam niyo naman mahirap pag hindi po pumasa ‘yung budget (You know it’s really difficult if the budget was not passed) on time, just like what happened last year. Kung magkakaroon tayo ng reenacted budget, malaki pong losses (If we will have a reenacted budget, it will be really big loss),” Go told reporters during a chance interview in Malacañang.
Go cited the slower gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate as among the results of the late budget approval.
“Masasayang ang pera ng gobyerno ‘pag reenacted budget not only that, pati po itong inflation natin ay apektado kasi walang government spending for the first semester of this year (The money of the government will be wasted if there’s a reenacted budget, not only that, but even our inflation is affected because there’s no government spending for the first semester of this year),” Go said.
“So bibilisan po namin (So we will hasten its passage). The ball is in our hands right now. Subukan po namin na maipasa agad ito before the year ends at magkakaroon na po ng signing with the President (We will try to pass it fast before the year ends so that it will be then signed by the President),” he added.
Go made the statement as the Senate began on Tuesday plenary debate on the budgets of various government departments, agencies, and offices contained in the proposed P4.1-trillion General Appropriations Bill for 2020.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson had alleged that 22 deputy speakers at the House of Representatives would be receiving an additional P1.5 billion each in pork funds, while others were to receive P700 million each.
Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro, however, denied the allegation and demanded an apology from the senator.
The enactment of the 2019 national budget was delayed for four months amid allegations of illegal realignments by lawmakers.
The President only signed the 2019 budget on April 15, vetoing about P95 billion worth of appropriations.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, had said that he believed other lawmakers have learned lessons from last year’s budget delay and would work to pass the 2020 budget within 2019.
“The experience has only underscored that, for us to maintain our country’s momentum and upward trajectory, we can afford no more delays, especially when public spending can account for up to 20 percent of the entire economy,” he said.
With the Duterte administration now on the second half of its six-year tenure, it is building on its legacy and the 2020 budget was crafted to support this, Angara added. CATHERINE S. VALENTE