Marikina City 2nd Rep. Stella Quimbo (Contributed photo)





Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo has revealed the target dates in connection with the House of Representatives' upcoming deliberations on the P5.768-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2024. Quimbo is the senior vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, the main panel tasked with scrutinizing the proposed national budget. "We will begin our [committee] briefings, by the way, on Aug. 10, so that's next week. Mag-uumpisa tayo with the DBCC (We will begin with the Development Budget Coordination Committee)," she said in a press briefing Wednesday, Aug. 2. "Ang target po natin sa plenaryo, mag-uumpisa hopefully ang ating plenary debates on the week of Sept. 18. So hopefully by the end of September tapos napo tayo at naaprubahan napo ang budget," she added. (Our target for the plenary, hopefully our plenary debates will start on the week of Sept. 18. So hopefully by the end of September we will have approved the budget.) Quimbo attended the Department of Budge and Management (DBM)'s ceremonial submission of the 2024 NEP to the House of Representatives in Batasan Complex, Quezon City on Wednesday morning. House Speaker Martin Romualdez had earlier bared plans of passing the 2024 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or the budget measure before the chamber goes on recess in October. The NEP is the precursor of the GAB. Before the budget measure can be approved on second and third reading on the plenary floor, it must first undergo extensive discussion at the appropriations panel level. “I have clear marching orders from the Speaker: make sure that the budget fully supports the Marcos administration’s 8-point socioeconomic agenda through sound fiscal management,” said Committee on Appropriations chairman, Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co. Co has pledged to work overtime to meet the House’s internal deadlines while ensuring that "every centavo is allotted precisely where needed". He said the committee will take into consideration the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) macroeconomic assumptions, which were made the bases of the proposed budget. “We’ll take a look at the projected Gross National Product growth rates, treasury bill rates, foreign exchange rates, population growth rates, and other economic indicators. We want to get assurances that these are aligned with the NEP’s slated outflows and inflows," Co said. The 2024 NEP is 9.5 percent gigher than the current government budget.