[ad_1]
SENATE President Vicente C. Sotto III assured Wednesday that senators are working on a solution to avoid a reconstituted national budget for 2018 if both houses of Congress do not ratify the final reconciled version of the 2019 budget bill. .
Sotto acknowledged that the tight schedule of Congress, as Christmas approaches, could force lawmakers to work overtime, as budget secretary Benjamin Diokno had asked.
Mr Diokno, who had previously warned that the adoption of the 2019 budget law in January – instead of December – would jeopardize the growth prospects for the first and second quarters, met Wednesday Senate leaders and has insisted that Congress do overtime so that the budget signed by the president at the end of the year.
After the meeting, he told reporters that lawmakers were willing to change their legislative agenda to make this possible.
Sotto confirmed that the executive, through the DBM, had asked legislators "to speed up the deliberations and adoption of the 2019 budget bill," stating that the tight schedule of 27 January 2019 for the ratification of the bicameral conference had raised fears about the exhaustion of both chambers. of time.
"It will take less than a week before the start of the election campaign or a little over a week and, therefore, all public works and other government projects will have to be stopped until the elections "said Mr. Sotto.
This means, he added, "another five-month delay. It's their apprehension, so maybe we could look for a solution later.
When asked if the Senate and the House could speed up the adoption of the budget bill, Mr. Sotto admitted:Hindi Kaya Talaga. Siguro kailangan humanap kami ng paraan kung papano yung mga importanteng dapat mga kilo ng gobyerno ay hindi mapigil [It’s really hard. Maybe we need to find a way so that the important activities of the government won’t be derailed] because of the campaign period. "
Option: joint resolution
As an alternative, Sotto said lawmakers were considering adopting a joint resolution of the Senate and House to "extend the MOOE". [maintenance and other operating expenses] and the capital expenditure of the 2018 budget. "
Sotto suggested that the joint resolution could be effective "until next year".
"So, baka possible & # 39; Yun ang maka-décalage ng mga hindi may-dedeliver due to the campaign period. Continuation lang yun noong 2018 [So, that might possibly offset the funding for projects that cannot be delivered because of the campaign period. It’s just a continuation of 2018]Sotto said.
Sotto nonetheless admitted: "I do not know the subtleties of whether it would be legal or not, so we must listen to the DBM later and meet the Finance Ministry as well."
After asking the Senate to speed up its adoption in the year of the proposed 2019 budget of £ 3775 billion, in order to avoid a reconstituted budget, Mr Diokno still hoped that things could be settled .
"I think they're planning [to revise] the calendar, "he said in a chance interview with reporters after meeting with senators. "Because, in the initial schedule, they would be adjourned on December 15, and then resume on January 14. It's not just January, it's January 14th. Why January 14? …. Ordinary workers, we will return to work on January 7, "he said.
The meeting took place after Diokno declared that the national budget for next year could not be legislated before the end of the year on the basis of the new calendar sent by the Senate. The latter had to adjust its timetable after the House of Representatives postponed the transmission of the budget bill despite the filing of the executive's brief on July 23, just after the president had delivered his speech on the state of play. nation (Sona).
According to the updated calendar, the nearest date for the ratification of the Congress will be January 25, 2019 and the last possible date would be February 7.
If this schedule is respected, the government will operate according to a replenished budget, the first under Duterte administration.
Mr Diokno nevertheless said that he was convinced that the budget could still be adopted before the end of the year. "I spent 20 budgets in my life. It can be done if they want to, "he said.
& # 39; Double time & # 39;
At the same time, senators said that they would try to pass the budget before the end of the year.
The majority leader of Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri told reporters that their "counterproposal was to work twice" after Malacañang's call to approve the budget by 1 January of the year. next.
"[Hopefully]On December 13, we can already ratify the budget, "said Zubiri.
Senate Speaker Vicente Sotto said the budget could be adopted before the end of the year if arrests are accelerated.
"The president said the signature could be concluded until December 31," Sotto said.
Warning
Earlier, Diokno warned that Congress's failure to approve the 2019 budget would affect the country's economic growth for the first and second quarters, as infrastructure projects suffer from a delay of five months.
However, he said that this would mainly cover small projects, such as roads and school buildings, and that this development will not affect large infrastructure projects, as most of them are covered by the multi-year mandatory authority.
Diokno said capital spending is likely to slow down in the first two quarters of next year.
Nevertheless, he remained confident that the government could reach the GDP growth target of 7 to 8% for next year.
Diokno has since said that the president has given Congress "more time than necessary to review the budget". He recalled recalling giving the executive budget proposal just after President Sona. However, the reshuffle in the House of Representatives, with the change from President to MP Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and a long feud between House Leaders and DBM about the introduction of the very first budget-based payments into cash, derailed the budget schedule.
The House passed the budget bill to the Senate only last week.
Source link
