Senate, House ratify bicam panel report on P4.5-trillion 2021 budget

The Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the measure providing for the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021.

The ratification came hours after members of the bicameral panel, composed of senators and congressmen, adopted the report in their meeting in a hotel in Makati earlier in the day.

The House was first to ratify at 6:30 p.m. The Senate followed two hours later.

Included in the bicam-approved budget bill are P72.5 billion in regular and unprogrammed funds for COVID-19 vaccine procurement, storage, and distribution in 2021.

Around P23 billion has been realigned for the rehabilitation of communities affected by the recent strong typhoons that hit the country.

According to House Committee on Appropriations chair Eric Yap, the P23-billion allocation was sourced from the funding intended for projects and programs that are deemed "unimplementable" and are least needed.

"Tinitignan namin unang-una yung mga hindi implementable, yung mga least na kailangan at nilipat namin sa mga provinces like Cagayan tulad ng iba pa sa Bicol, [sa] Albay, doon namin nilagay yung mga infra, mga roads, mga kailangan nila," he said.

The bicam panel, nevertheless, retained the contested P19.1 billion budget for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict for next year despite the opposition of the Makabayan Bloc members. -NB, GMA News