Malacañang: ‘No need for special session on budget’

MANILA, Philippines — There will be no special session during the legislative Christmas break to force passage of the P3.7-trillion budget for next year, Malacañang said yesterday.

“First, I would like to confirm the announcement that the President will not be calling for a special session on the request of the Senate,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

With no budget program passed in the remaining days of the year, the government will have to operate on a reenacted budget – at least in the first few weeks of next year.

Panelo said President Duterte merely deferred to the request of the senators.

“Senate members told the President through, I think Secretary (Benjamin) Diokno, that it’s physically impossible for them to hold a session because it ended yesterday (Thursday),” he said.

“…and I suppose there’s so many activities that will involve the attention, the presence of all members of Congress. So in deference to that, the President is not calling for a special session,” Panelo added.

Diokno had earlier confirmed the delay in the approval of the budget.

“The senators appear exhausted. They requested a break. Congress will resume on Jan. 14. Hopefully, the legislators will be fully reinvigorated by then and will act swiftly for the enactment of the 2019 budget,” Diokno said.

“The sooner Congress act on the new budget, the lower the negative impact of a reenacted one on the economy,” he said.

Diokno met with Duterte on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a special session of Congress, but it was decided not to push through with the recommendation.

“At the request of the Senate, we decided to recommend that there will be no special session. In fairness, the Senate worked very hard. But the GAB (General Appropriations Bill) was much delayed,” Diokno said.

The House of Representatives prepares the GAB and submits it to the Senate, which opens it for discussions and possible amendments.

Diokno said senators have waited for a long time for the bill to reach them.

“As you know the Constitution says the President has 30 days after the SONA (State of the Nation Address) to submit the budget. We have submitted on the day of the SONA, we didn’t use the 30-day period,” Diokno said in his weekly press briefing last Wednesday.

“So it’s Congress that should be blamed for this. We have nothing to do with it. It’s now in their court,” he added.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said the Senate is looking to approve the GAB when the chamber resumes session on Jan. 14 next year.

Diokno had repeatedly warned that failing to approve the budget on time and relying on a reenacted budget for next year would cause economic slowdown.

“Our growth targets are anchored on a carefully crafted expansionary fiscal policy. If you reduce the budget, you interrupt our growth momentum,” the secretary said in an earlier statement.

According to DBM estimates, a reenacted budget would reduce disbursements by around P220 billion in 2019.

Latest estimates from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) also showed that a reenacted budget could slash GDP growth by 1.1 to 2.3 percentage points next year.

Employment may also be reduced by as much as 600,000, particularly in sectors such as construction, public administration and defense, wholesale and retail trade, land transport and education.

It is also estimated that 200,000 to 400,000 Filipinos could be pushed into poverty in the event of a reenactment of the budget. – With Janvic Mateo