Malacañang on Thursday said it remained optimistic that the proposed 2019 national budget of P3.757 trillion will be passed on time, despite delays in the House of Representatives.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the Executive Department’s legislative liaison office currently coordinates with Congress to address concerns about the budget proposal for 2019 and ensure its timely passage.
“The House knows that this is the budget proposal of the Palace. And so, they will have to do their job. If there are questions on the budget, they will raise them and we will respond to them,” Panelo said in a Palace press briefing.
The Palace official made the remark after some senators raised the possibility of a reenacted budget for January even as the House approved its 2019 budget version this week.
READ: House averts reenacted budget
“We’re only speculating that it will not be passed. We have submitted a budget proposal, so it’s the House’s call,” Panelo said, dismissing talk of a reenacted budget next year.
Asked if the Palace was convinced about the passage of the 2019 budget, Panelo said, “Of course.”
He also denied the possibility of “pork insertions” in the proposed budget.
Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson said pork insertions were delaying the budget’s passage in the House.
Senator Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri said the government might operate on a reenacted budget in the first few weeks of 2019 because the Senate only has six days left this year to debate the budget before going on Christmas break.
The House approved the 2019 budget on third and final reading only on Tuesday.
