House Deputy Speaker and Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera on Sunday, Dec. 26, expressed confidence that President Duterte would approve the P5.024 trillion national budget in its entirety.
According to Herrera, the final version of next year's General Appropriations Bill (GAB), which has been forwarded to Duterte for signature, complies with the Constitution and has lower chances of being vetoed.
"The GAB was prepared with the constitutionality of every provision in mind, and we are confident PRRD won't veto its provisions, especially those related to COVID-19 response," she said in a statement.
Herrera, a member of the House contingent to the bicameral conference committee for the reconciled version of the 2022 national budget, said next year's GAB tried to cover all the requirements that will come as part of the country's COVID-19 response.
These include appropriations for benefits and compensation for health care workers, hiring of human resources for health emergency, laboratory network commodities, free COVID-19 tests for jobseekers, procurement of vaccine booster shots, hiring and training of contact tracers, among others.
"Most, if not all of these, were not funded in the National Expenditure Program or the original budget document submitted by Malacañang to Congress," she said, adding that she is confident that Duterte will sign the budget before the year ends.