The House of Representatives is eyeing that the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021 be signed by President Duterte by "first week of December."

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said they are eyeing to finish the deliberations on the Duterte government’s spending plan on the level of the House Committee on Appropriations before Sept. 20 and that plenary deliberations be conducted within 10 days, or two weeks, at the latest.

"So we hope na either end of September or by the end of the first week of October nasa Senado na ito. So ang target natin, sana mapirmahan na ng Presidente ito ng first week pa lang ng December,” he said.

(So we hope na either end of September or by the end of the first week of October, this will be forwarded to the Senate. So our target, we hope the President will sign this by first week of December.)

He explained that once the budget is signed into law, the procurement and bidding out of many government projects will immediately jumpstart to reboot the national economy and financially assist the sectors most affected by COVID-19.

"Kailangang kailangan ng trabaho, ng stimulus ng ating mga kababayan, so nakikiusap din kami hindi lamang sa mga Gabinete, sa NGOs, sa media, but also sa Senate doon sa time frame. And so far maganda po ang usapan, I think ang Senate magsisimula na rin sila ng budget briefings soon,” Cayetano said.

(Our countrymen badly needs jobs, stimulus, so we are appealing not only to the Cabinet, the NGOs, media, but also the Senate about the time frame. And so far, the discussion went well, I think the Senate will start their budget briefings soon.)

Cayetano said while they pushed for the immediate passage of the 2021 national budget, they would ensure its “quality” and that it would give hope to the people amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"I think i-emphasize ko na kailangan 'yung speed o 'yung bilis na maipasa ito pero kailangan 'yung quality ng Appropriations Act. So nasabi ko sa mga kasamahan natin sa Kongreso, pati sa mga Gabinete and hope to work well with the Senate, ang kailangan itong budget na ito ay magbigay ng pag-asa, hindi panay paasa 'di ba? Kasi naghahanap ng hope ang ating mga kababayan,” he said.

(I’d like to emphasize that we need to expeditiously pass this, but we need to ensure quality of the Appropriations Act. So, I told to our colleagues in Congress, as well as the members of the Cabinet, and hope to work well with the Senate, we need this budget to give hope, not to give them false hope. Because our countrymen are searching for hope.)

He said priorities will be given to "life-giving” projects and programs, particularly in the areas of education, agriculture, tourism, and transportation.

Cayetano assured the public that there will no "pork barrel" or parking funds in the proposed 2021 national budget as they advocated for the public participation in the budget deliberations.

ACT-CIS partylist Rep. Eric Yap, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, said they will exhaust all means to ensure the immediate passage of the national budget for next year.

He said they are "willing to overtime” or “sleep over” at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City to ensure the "exhaustive scrutiny” and expeditious approval of the 2021 national budget.

He said they will prioritize the funding allocation for the government’s COVID-19 response, particularly for health and the government’s purchase of vaccines.