Senate President Vicente Sotto III emphasized that the Senate will do its “best to work on the time” it has, following his tweet that the “HoR has delayed the budget for a whole month.”
Sotto said the Senate cannot be rushed to pass the proposed 2021 budget and should not be blamed for the delay since it also has a very tight schedule.
Senator Panfilo Lacson suggested that the Lower House should continue its session for at least one day to pass the 2021 General Appropriations Bill on third and final reading.
“Impossible na nga eh, maski ipangako nila it will be passed on time. Hindi na talaga maipapasa on time because of the schedule na napakasikip (It’s already impossible even if they promise that it will be passed on time. It will not be passed on time because of the very tight schedule),” Lacson stated.
Lacson said it was not only delayed for one day, as insisted by Speaker Alan Cayetano.
“Isang buwan effectively. Kaya sana kung tinapos nila ng October 14 at bago mag-break eh nasa amin na ‘yung budget (It was effectively a month. If only they accomplish it by October 14 and before the break, the budget could have been with us),” Lacson added.
“It’s tighter because we start at a later time. We usually start at around first week of November. Now we are starting November 16 which is already late. How can we do what we traditionally do in 4-5 week in 3 weeks?” Senator Sonny Angara pointed out.
Senator Christopher Go emphasized that the budget should not be re-enacted and must be passed on time for the funding of COVID-19 recovery measures. There is no room for politicking if lawmakers are really prioritizing the welfare of the public. – Report from Eunice Samonte
