By Brian Campued
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will not have a holiday break as he is keen on scrutinizing the proposed P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB), Malacañang said Friday.
In a press briefing, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro underscored the President’s commitment to ensuring that the budget is responsive to the needs of the Filipino people.
“Sa Pangulo, hindi po kailangang magkaroon ng Christmas break. Kailangan po talagang aralin ito at pipilitin na mapirmahan ito bago matapos ang taon,” Castro said.
Despite the limited time, Castro said the President is determined to conduct a thorough review of the budget and veto questionable items, if necessary.
“Tinitiyak po ng Pangulo na aaralin, matututukan, [at] mabubusisi ang nasabing enrolled bill [para] matiyak na ang nakalagay rito ay naaayon sa mga prayoridad ng administrasyon—isang malinis, makatao, at nakatuon ang mga probisyon dito para sa taumbayan,” she emphasized.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will assist the President in reviewing the GAB, while Cabinet secretaries may be summoned for further clarifications on their respective departments’ budgets.
The bicameral conference committee (bicam) finished its deliberations on the spending plan on Thursday and targets to transmit the enrolled bill to the Chief Executive on Dec. 29—two days before the current year’s national budget expires.
In an interview, Senate Committee on Finance chair Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian explained that Congress originally intended to ratify the budget on Dec. 22, but based on the timetable of the staff, the signing will be on Dec. 28 and the ratification will be on Dec. 29.
“Kasi ‘yung pagbabalanse, pagpi-print, pagre-reconcile. Kasi we have to reconcile our numbers with theirs (House of Representatives). So, yang process alone, would take five days,” Gatchalian said.
“Tapos may Pasko pa, may noche buena. So mga roughly around 28th, babalik kami to sign and [sa] 29 to ratify,” he added.
-jpv
