House asks Noy to certify 2016 budget as urgent

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives has asked President Aquino to certify the proposed P3.002-trillion 2016 national budget as urgent so it can approve it on second reading and third and final reading on Friday.

“We have written the President to certify it. The certification would expedite the approval of the budget proposal,” Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II told a news conference yesterday.

He said presidential certification would obviate the need for the House to follow the requirement under its rules to wait for three days after second reading passage before a measure could be scheduled for final reading approval.

The three-day requirement is for the printing of clean copies and their distribution to members, he said.

“There will be quorum on Friday, I can assure you that, so we might as well approve the budget not only on second reading but on third and final reading as well,” he said.

He added that he is not so sure of a quorum on Nov. 3, when the House and the Senate reconvene after a three-week recess.

Gonzales pointed out that the House is on track in its budget deliberation schedule.

“As in the past, we will appoint a small committee to receive individual amendment proposals from members. For practical purposes, with 290 or so members, we cannot entertain proposed amendments on the floor,” he said.

Yesterday morning, the House approved the proposed budgets for the Office of the President (OP), Office of the Vice President (OVP), Department of Foreign Affairs and Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, appropriations committee chairman, defended the OP and OVP outlays.

“We have already tackled many agencies. We are on schedule to wrap up plenary consideration of the budget and put it to a vote on Friday,” he said.

He said among the big agencies that would be on deck today up to Friday are the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, Department of National Defense and Department of Budget and Management.

“I am confident that we in the House and the Senate can approve the 2016 budget before the end of the year so there would be no need to reenact the 2015 outlay,” he said.

He added that as in the past, President Aquino and leaders of Congress do not want a reenacted spending law.

Game-changing bills

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. also said that while the national budget and the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) remain atop the list of priorities for the chamber, there are other urgent measures.    

“Outside the budget and the BBL, there are several game-changing bills in various stages of approval. But we have period to tackle other bills (while debating on the budget),” Belmonte told reporters.

“We’ve succeeded in passing them without presidential certification but if it will be really needed, we’ll press the President to certify them to save time in pushing them through,” he said.

He expressed satisfaction that the appropriations committee was able to pass House Bill 6135 creating a trust fund for coconut levy funds collected during the Marcos regime even if the chamber was busy with the proposed budget.

The bill is among the measures that Gonzales said will need presidential certification so it can be approved on second reading, and third and final reading in one session before Congress goes on a break on Friday.

Other pending reform bills in Congress are the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act, the rationalization of fiscal incentives and the Freedom of Information Bill. – With Paolo Romero