Speaker vows early deliberations on 2023 budget

MANILA, Philippines — Now that the composition of nearly all committees of the House of Representatives is almost done, the next move is to start deliberations on the proposed 2023 national budget as soon as the executive department submits it to Congress.

“Rest assured that the House will act immediately on the budget,” Speaker Martin Romualdez said, as he anticipated that the Department of Budget and Management will submit the National Expenditure Program in the “third week of August.”

Rep. Zaldy Co of Ako Bicol party-list, chairman of the House appropriations committee, along with his senior vice chairperson, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, will be very busy holding hearings for purposes of scrutinizing the proposed national budget for next year.

Romualdez said the House has buckled down to work, and will continue to work, now that nearly all House committees have been constituted with respective chairpersons and members.

Out of the 64 standing committees in the lower legislative chamber, 50 have already been designated with their respective chairpersons. All 64 of these panels have been given members.

Meanwhile, of the 15 special committees, 10 now have their respective chairpersons. Member-lawmakers have already been designated to all but one of these committees.

Once constituted, House committees can hold hearings on filed House bills and other measures, which is among the initial steps in the legislative process.

During the House plenary sessions dated July 25 to 27 and Aug. 1 to 3, a total of 2,877 measures have been referred to the various committees for deliberation.

The breakdown of the referred measures are as follows: House Bills, 2,744; House resolutions, 119; House joint resolution, seven; House concurrent resolution, five; and Resolution of both Houses, two.

House starts filling CA contingent

The Speaker continues to fill the memberships in standing committees of the House, and has designated congressmen that will comprise the chamber’s contingent to the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA).

The House contingent to the bicameral body has no head yet, although 10 of the 12-member panel have been named, and so have the six members of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) that settles poll complaints among lawmakers.

The nine-member HRET, where three of its members come from the Supreme Court, is the “sole judge” of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of members of the House, which is its mandate under the 1987 Constitution.

Among the members of the House CA contingent are Representatives Rodante Marcoleta (Sagip), LRay Villafuerte (Camarines Sur), Lani Mercado-Revilla (Cavite), Johnny Pimentel (Surigao del Sur), Albert Garcia (Bataan).

Other members are Representatives Ramon Guico Jr. (Pangasinan), Jurdin Jesus Romualdo (Camiguin), Manuel Sagarbarria (Negros Oriental), Greg Gasataya (Bacolod) and Jose Gay Padiernos (GP PARTY party-list).