The government’s proposed P5.268-trillion budget for 2023 is nearing its approval after the House of Representatives completed the plenary debates for at least 76 percent of all government agencies.
The Lower Chamber will soon move for the approval of the P5.268-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) after House Majority Leader and Rules Committee Chair Rep. Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe expressed confidence that Congress will terminate all budget debates by the Sept. 28 deadline.
Crediting the deputies and the various teams that he created to manage the flow of deliberations in the plenary, the lawmaker said that Congress has so far approved the budget for 54 departments, attached agencies, and constitutional bodies.
Only 14 agencies have not gotten their budgets approved.
“I see longer and more heated discussions on the budget of some agencies this week, but it is nothing we cannot handle. I’m confident we will terminate all debates by Sept. 28 and approve the budget bill by Sept. 30,” Dalipe said in a statement.
Discussions and the approval of the budget of the Department of Finance (DOF), including its attached agencies—the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and its attached agencies, and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)—have been deferred until this week because of the interpellation of other lawmakers.
Dalipe, who represents Zamboanga City’s 2nd district, also reported that the budget for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has already been approved last Friday, but not the funding for its attached agency, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
The move to defer the approval of the budgets for the DOF and its attached agencies, as well as the NCIP, was done to “avoid unnecessary delays.”
READ: Proposed P5.268-T national budget ‘still on track’ for Oct 1 House passage
The lawmaker admitted that there are a lot of lawmakers who want to raise questions on the budget allocations of these agencies, so they decided to list them up this week to give time for lengthier debates.
“We will have fewer agencies to tackle on the floor so we can give our members more time to discuss their budget while expediting the budget approval of the other government offices. But certainly, their budget will be approved in time before our Sept. 28 deadline,” he said.
Government agencies up for budget deliberation at the plenary this week are the following: Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Office of the Press Secretary (OPS), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Office of the President (OP), Presidential Management Staff (PMS), and NCIP.
Meanwhile, the fundings for the following agencies have already been approved last week: Office of the Ombudsman, Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), Commission on Elections (Comelec), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), including Human Rights Violation Victims’ Memorial Commission, Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Justice (DOJ), Philippine Space Agency, Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), Optical Media Board (OMB), Philippine Racing Commission (PHILRACOM), Civil Service Commission (CSC), including Career Service Executive Board, Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA), Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (ZAMBOECOZONE), Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), Climate Change Commission (CCC), Philippine Center for Economic Development (PCED), Games and Amusement Board (GAB), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO).