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2019 NATIONAL BUDGET

Senate asks Malacañang not to call for special session


The Senate appealed to Malacañang Thursday not to call for a special session for the passage of the proposed P3.7-trillion national budget for 2019.

The request was made during the plenary deliberation on the P6.773-billion proposed budget for the Office of the President and its attached agencies.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea was present at the session hall.

Senator Panfilo Lacson was first to stand up, clarifying that he will not ask questions but instead, give a manifestation.

“I’d like to take advantage of the presence of Executive Secretary Bong Medialdea. I would like to issue an appeal to him not to endorse the anticipated recommendation of Secretary of DBM (Department of Budget and Management) Ben Diokno to call for a special session,” he said.

Lacson was referring to a statement of Diokno during a forum in Manila. 

“So there’s a possibility that the President may call for a special session sometime next week to finish the budget. We will recommend to the President a request for a special session. It could be sooner, it could be on Friday,” the DBM Secretary said.

Lacson said looking at their schedule they still need to tackle the budget of big agencies such as the Department of Tourism, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Justice, particularly the Bureau of Immigration, Commission on Audit, Commission on Elections, Ombudsman, Department of Health, Department of National Defense, and Department of the Interior and Local Government.

“And even if the President calls for a special session, even if we extend our session for another five days, for another week, it is impossible, Mr. President, for us to enact the budget bill before the year ends,” he said.

Congress is set to adjourn its session on December 14 and will resume on January 14, 2019.

“So I’d like to again reiterate of course with the concurrence of this body, I’d like to make that appeal. Quoting Jesus Christ: ‘the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak’,” said Lacson.

Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri backed up Lacson’s manifestation and said that the Senate is doing its best to finish the budget it would be physically impossible.

“We  just like to say to the Executive Secretary that we are doing our best to pass the budget. We work all week last week, until Friday, 10 pm, and we have been working this week but we lost a day because of the session on martial law declaration yesterday. So it is physically impossible,” he said.

He also expressed doubt that both chambers will be able to have a quorum.

“We tried our best and we can work the budget as soon as we get back from January 14,” he added.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said there were days when the budget deliberations end past 2 a.m. the next day.

Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, who is defending the budget of the OP, said Medialdea promised to relay the Senate’s appeal to the President.

In a short talk with reporters after the hearing, Medialdeal reiterated that he will tell the President the request of the senators. — RSJ, GMA News

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