Should he get reelected as the chair of the Senate Committee on Finance in the 19th Congress, Senator Sonny Angara said he would help the incoming Marcos administration to work on the upcoming 2023 national budget bill.

Angara made the assurance following presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s statement he is looking at the national budget for 2023 to fund an economic stimulus measure in order to expedite the Philippine’s recovery from the still ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Angara is currently the head of the Senate finance panel and sponsor of the proposed 2022 national budget which eventually was passed into law as the General Appropriations Act of 2022. Under his watch, two Bayanihan laws have also been passed to complement the government’s response against the pandemic.

Marcos, Jr., in a press forum, indicated there was little to work with under the present budget.

“That’s why we will have to look to the new budget, the budget for 2023 which is presently being written...We have to look at that to find sufficient funds for the things we want to do,” Marcos Jr. said.

“If I am re-elected Chairperson of the Finance Committee we will work closely with the President and his cabinet to ensure the funding of programs and policies crucial to the delivery of public services,” Angara said in a statement.

“We, in the Senate, are cognizant of the huge mandate the President has received and the need to fulfill promises to the people,” he stressed.

House leaders, led by Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, have also responded positively to the call, with Romualdez eyeing to pass a stimulus package dubbed “Bangon Bayan Muli” bill under the 19th Congress.