Velasco rules out reenacted budget

The proposed P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022 will be enacted before yearend, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said Wednesday, two days after the House transmitted the spending plan to the Senate and two days ahead of the October 27 target date set by the lower chamber.

“In line with our commitment to ensure the timely enactment of next year’s national budget, we have transmitted to the Senate the 2022 GAB duly approved by the House ahead of schedule,” Velasco said.

“In doing so, we hope to give our senators reasonable time to scrutinize and pass their own version of the GAB as we look forward to the bicameral conference where we can thresh out and reconcile the differing provisions of the House and Senate versions,” he added.

With this development, Velasco said Congress was on schedule to send the all-important budget measure to President Rodrigo Duterte for his signature by December this year.

As the economy gradually moves toward full reopening, Velasco said he was “extremely hopeful that the proposed P5.024-trillion national budget will help propel the Philippine economy to a strong recovery starting 2022.”

The House chief said the importance of enacting the national budget before the start of the fiscal year on January 1, 2022 could not be overstated.

“We cannot afford a reenacted budget, which is expected to dampen the country’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis,” Velasco pointed out.

“A reenacted budget will definitely ruin our efforts to build back better and deliver much-needed services for our kababayans amid the pandemic.”