Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri confirmed that the Senate is planning to resume its session on November 9 instead of November 16 for the deliberation of the 2021 national budget.
“Ang plano namin, we will inform the House of Representatives that we will start our session early. ‘Pag tinanggap po nila ‘yan at wala po silang complaint, then today we will suspend session until November 9 (Our plan is to inform the House of Representatives that we will start our session early. If they accept without complaints, then we will suspend session until November 9),” Zubiri disclosed.
If the planned schedule is followed, Zubiri said that the bicameral conference committee meeting will push through on the first week of December to expedite the passage of the proposed 2021 budget before January.
Zubiri added that the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Bill may also be included in the Senate agenda when the session resumes.
Senator Christopher Go asserted that a reenacted budget for 2021 is unacceptable, considering the budget needed for the COVID-19 response. October 15 is the last day of session at the Senate before it goes into a congressional break.
Senators reiterated that they are prepared to adjust their schedule to attend to the national budget and other priority bills. – Report from Eunice Samonte
