Duterte to ‘carefully scrutinize’ 2020 budget bill —Palace

Malacañang on Wednesday welcomed the passage of the 2020 proposed national budget in the Senate as Congress moved closer to approving the appropriations bill that will be sent to President Rodrigo Duterte for his signature.

Voting 22-0, the Senate approved the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget, paving the way for a bicameral conference composed of senators and congressmen who will reconcile the disagreeing provisions in the budget bill.

“The Office of the President welcomes this development given that this budget per the Department of Budget and Management, aims to fund programs and projects that will help accelerate investments in public infrastructure, improve anti-poverty measures, and intensify employment generation,” Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.

Panelo added the Executive branch hopes that the bicameral conference committee
would be able to reconcile the conflicting provisions “without prolonged partisan discussion and undue delay.”

“The public is assured that the President will carefully scrutinize whatever appropriations bill that will be transmitted to his office by Congress to ensure that the same would be in accordance with the imperatives of the Constitution and responsive to the needs of the Filipino people before it becomes a law,” the Palace official said.

The government had operated on a reenacted budget in the early months of 2019 after Congress failed to pass this year's budget before 2018 ended following lawmakers’ squabble over alleged insertions.

Duterte signed the P3.662-trillion national budget for 2019 in April even as he quashed P95.3-billion worth of items under the Department of Public Works and Highways that were outside the government's programmed priorities. — MDM, GMA News