Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 10) — The House of Representatives is eyeing to approve the proposed ₱5.768 trillion national budget for 2024 within five weeks, House Speaker Martin Romualdez said Thursday as the chamber started deliberations on the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
“I am confident that the House of Representatives will be able to deliberate and pass the national budget on time, and transmit the same to the Senate,” said Romualdez at the beginning of deliberations. “I can assure everyone that the House of Representatives will not take a break until and unless we have passed this very important piece of legislation.”
\”Sisiguruhin natin na maipasa natin ang 2024 General Appropriations Bill sa loob ng limang linggo – apat na linggo sa komite, isang linggo sa plenaryo,\” he added.
[Translation: We will make sure to pass the 2024 General Appropriations Bill within five weeks – four weeks in the committee and one week in the plenary.]
The House Speaker earlier said the lower chamber aims to approve by October the proposed ₱5.768 trillion budget, which is 9.5% higher than 2023’ s ₱5.268 trillion spending plan.
Romualdez noted that the swift passage of the proposed 2024 NEP would allow President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to enact it by December.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said next year’s national budget is based on the government’s eight-point socioeconomic agenda, which aims to ensure food security, mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provide employment.
The education sector, on the other hand, continues to get the lion’s share of the budget.
The DBM pointed out that it has considered various factors in evaluating the budget proposals of various agencies.
\”Due to our limited fiscal space, we optimized the allocation of resources by ensuring that the programs, activities, and projects that will be budgeted are implementation-ready, and must be delivered and executed in the same year,\” said Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman during the briefing.
