The House of Representatives on Tuesday morning transmitted to the Senate the Palace-proposed P4.1- trillion national government budget for 2020, a House official said Tuesday.
The transmittal came a day after the chamber finalized its P9.5-billion institutional amendments to the money measure, which the House leaders said was “pork free.”
“Again and again, we contend that it is a pork-free budget as we strictly confined ourselves to the decision of the Supreme Court which declared the PDAF [Priority Development Assistance Fund] unconstitutional and prohibited the post-enactment identification of projects,” Deputy Speaker Neptali Gonzales II said.
• Senator Panfilo Lacson said Tuesday he was not picking up a fight with any member of the House, and that he was merely up against the pork barrel.
“My fight is against pork and corruption, and nothing more, Lacson said.
• Rep. Lito Atienza on Tuesday admonished Lacson against making sweeping statements about the resurgence of pork barrel in the 2020 National Budget that was recently approved by the House of Representatives.
• Senators want to cut by half the proposed P261-million budget for 2020 of the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission, which President Rodrigo Duterte wanted to dissolve because it was impossible to clean up the Pasig River.
Gonzales said the Senate, through its finance committee, was expected to go through the budget, and that congressmen were ready to sit down with the senators even if Congress went on a break starting Oct. 5.
“Now the Senate can finally see for themselves, Gonzales said.
Rep. Michael Defensor said the House would also look into the proposed changes of the Senate to the budget bill as part of the budget process.
He assured the public and the senators that the House-approved budget was pork free and that no parked funds were inserted in it. He even expressed optimism that the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Bill would be approved on time.
He said he believed the senators, especially Lacson, would find the House’s proposed realignments acceptable.
“I would like to assure the good senator and the Senate of the Philippines, and even the House is happy with the work we have accomplished, Defensor said.
On Sept. 20, the House approved the 2020 GAB on third and final reading, which legislators said was a record time.
The chamber then created a small committee to work on the proposed amendments to the money measure.
The House realigned P9.5 billion to augment the budget of 12 agencies, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said on Monday. With Macon Ramos-Araneta