Palace welcomes development in budget process

Malacañang on Monday welcomed the decision of the House of Representatives to recall the controversial version of the proposed national budget for 2019 it transmitted to the Senate.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said earlier in the day that he was told by San Juan City Representative Ronaldo Zamora, who was tasked to talk with the Senate over the budget, that the House will withdraw the version which contains post-bicam realignments opposed by the Senate.

Zamora confirmed the development.

“We welcome that they have finally settled their differences, so we hope that they will be submitting the enrolled bill and for the President to go over it and sign it if it conforms with the Constitution,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo told reporters.

“The members of the House have finally realized whatever conflicts they have with the Senate should be set aside for the general welfare,” he added.

Panelo said the country will now “be moving forward to progress.” The government had said the reenacted budget will create a delay in both new and ongoing infrastructure projects, as well as the implementation of public social services.

Asked about the lessons learned from the budget issue, Panelo said: “They should always look at the interest of the people as the primary objective, not personal differences with members of each house.”

Both houses of Congress ratified in February the version of the budget approved by the bicameral conference committee but the House admitted itemizing lump sum allocations even after the ratification.

This did not sit well with senators particularly Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Lacson, who claimed that such a move was contrary to the Constitution.

But House appropriations committee chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. said they were only itemizing lump sum appropriations “without departing from the approved specifications” of the ratified budget and “by so doing make the budget more transparent and easy to scrutinize.”

The two chambers failed to come up with a consensus even after President Rodrigo Duterte’s meeting with key members of the Senate and House on March 12.

The Palace then urged the Senate and House to break the stalemate in order to give way to the enactment of the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News