2019 budget to be approved on schedule — Legarda

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Loren Legarda yesterday gave assurance the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019 would be approved on schedule in spite of the delays in deliberations at the House of Representatives.

Legarda said the Senate would proceed with its hearings on the 2019 national budget when plenary sessions resume on Aug. 28.

As agreed upon by the senators during a caucus held earlier this week, Legarda said the Senate would support the cash-based budgeting as submitted by Malacañang.

The House initially suspended its deliberations on the budget after several congressmen rejected the cash-based budgeting of Malacañang and insisted on reverting to the obligation-based scheme like in previous budget cycles.

The impasse was broken after the House agreed to adopt a hybrid system, a mix of the cash and obligation-based schemes.

Legarda said she still does not know the exact form the hybrid scheme would take so the Senate would just continue working on the basis of the National Expenditure Program or the national budget as submitted by Malacañang.

According to Legarda, the cash-based system would help eliminate underspending in government, a problem that has been carried over from the previous administration.