House eyes early passage of 2021 budget

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives intends to pass the 2021 budget early by adjusting the budget calendar, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has bared.

Cayetano said the Lower House will seek early submission of the proposed budget by the executive branch to Congress so the latter can have it passed before October when he is expected to end his term as speaker under the term-sharing agreement with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.

“It’s too tedious. The President proposes the budget in July, we are done with the deliberations in the House in October, the Senate finishes its own consideration of the proposal in November and we finally approve it and the President signs it in December. By March, biddings are still not finished. So we will try to redo all of that (to speed up the process),” he said.

Cayetano revealed that the government is planning a record P4.6-trillion budget for next year.

The current 18th Congress approved the 2020 appropriations bill before yearend last year. The President signed it at the start of New Year.

Deputy Speaker and 1-Pacman party-list Rep. Mikee Romero has voiced support for the plan to adjust the budget calendar.

He cited the importance of passing the budget on time, recalling the economic repercussions of the delayed budget last year

“It is crucial to pass the budget earlier to avoid the kind of costly delay we had in 2019, which slowed down economic growth. That delay passage of the 2019 national budget resulted in P463.6 billion in economic losses in the first six months of the year,” he explained.

But apart from timely passage of the national budget, the economist-lawmaker said it is equally important to release the budget on time.

“For example, the 4Ps and other DSWD programs, as well as all those budgeted additional plantilla positions, new school buildings, new roads, should be spent according to the budgets without delay for maximum economic growth and poverty reduction impact,” he suggested.

“This should lead to increase in government spending during the first half of this year when the agencies would be using 2019 and 2020 funds. The economy should get a sizeable boost from all that government spending,” the lawmaker pointed out.

Apart from adjusting the budget calendar, Cayetano also vowed equitable distribution of funds among congressmen, following a botched attempt to remove him from the speakership post.

Cayetano said the Duterte administration’s economic managers are planning to increase the national budget for 2021 by at least P500 billion more than this year’s record P4.1 trillion.

The Speaker said the House will allocate the 2021 national budget equitably among congressional districts and local government units nationwide in a formula that he branded as “budget federalism” to “make sure that there is no province, city or municipality that’s left behind (in the allocation of funds).”

“Federalism is more sustainable because it is more equitable. It is more inclusive. If you are not equitable, you are not inclusive. There should be no excuse that remote rural areas would have no electricity or water supply,” he explained to reporters.