CONGRESS will likely ratify the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Bill before its break in mid-December, a House of Representatives leader said on Sunday.
“We hope to ratify the [Bicameral Conference Committee] report before our Dec. 20 Christmas break. There is enough time to approve the final version of the budget,” House Majority Leader and Zamboanga City Rep. Manuel Jose M. Dalipe said in a statement.
The House submitted its version of the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget to the Senate on Oct. 24. This after a small House committee tasked to resolve individual amendments to the proposed spending plan boosted funding to social services, food security and social safety nets by P292 billion.
The Senate is scheduled to start plenary debates on its version of the appropriations bill this week.
The Senate plans to approve the 2025 budget bill by the second week of December at the latest, Senate President Francis G. Escudero said last month.
“As in the past, the spending program for the coming year will be in place before the current fiscal year is over to ensure continuity of spending and seamless implementation of activities and programs,” Mr. Dalipe said.
Increasing funding for the social services sector is the “best investment approach” for the Philippine government, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.
The House is also set to tackle remaining priority measures as session resumes on Monday (Nov. 4).
Mr. Dalipe said the House will prioritize Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) measures, such as the National Defense and Budget Modernization bills, as well as amendments to the Agrarian Reform Law and the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Act.
The bills remain pending at their respective House panels.
“It would be prudent to focus on the LEDAC list. But lawmakers shouldn’t be pressured to take legislative shortcuts,” Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a fellow at the Ateneo de Manila University Policy Center, said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “The important thing is for the LEDAC bills be properly considered and thoroughly discussed.” — K.C.L. Basilio