House Speaker Martin Romualdez has given a time frame for the possible singing of the P5.268-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2023.
In a short address during his Christmas blowout for House reporters Wednesday, Dec. 7, Romualdez bared that the GAB or proposed national budget would get the signature of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. "perhaps after his return from the trip to Brussels ".
The chief executive is scheduled to fly to Belgium to attend the ASEAN-European Union (EU) Commemorative Summit. The trip will last from Dec. 11 to 14.
The two chambers of Congress--the House of Representatives and the Senate--have already separately ratified the Bicameral Conference Committee report on the 2023 GAB.
This paves the way for the sending of the enrolled copy of the budget measure to Malacañang where it will be signed by Marcos.
Referring to the proposed national budget that was first scrutinized in the House, Romualdez said, "We tackled it with dispatch and again with your support, we've done our job. And we hope that this will really add to the success of our President's Agenda of Prosperity."
The P5.268-trillion GAB is the highest in the country's history. It is also the first full-year outlay of the Marcos administration.