Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 4) — The House of Representatives has officially transmitted the proposed ₱5.768 trillion national budget for 2024 to the Senate.
House Bill No. 8980 or the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2024 was sent to the Senate during a joint special session convened by Congress to welcome Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday.
“Mr. Speaker, I move to immediately transmit to the Senate, House Bill No. 8980 as well as the resolutions that we have adopted,” said Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd District Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe.
Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr., who presided over the session, approved the motion.
Resolutions to the House proposed GAB include the reallocation of ₱194 billion in line items, including ₱1.23 billion in confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs).
Among the agencies that lost their CIFs are the Office of the Vice President (₱500M) and the Department of Education (₱150M) both headed by Sara Duterte, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (₱300M), the Department of Agriculture (₱50M), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (₱50M).
READ: 10 agencies to lose CIF – Quimbo
The House’s regular session officially resumes on Monday, Nov. 6.
The special session was called to accommodate Kishida’s visit—an honor only extended to a visiting foreign leader for the fifth time in the history of the Philippine legislature.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez personally handed over the spending bill to Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri in a ceremony held at the Batasang Pambansa.
The bill was “meticulously reviewed to address the pressing concerns of Filipinos and that stringent measures have been taken to ensure that every peso is allocated judiciously and in accordance with the law,” Romualdez said in a statement.
