Congress resumes regular session

Senators and congressmen resume their regular session today after a month-long Christmas break.

Still on top of their agenda is the proposed P715-billion 2001 national budget which they failed to approve during their five-day special session last week.

The budget is pending third-reading approval in the Senate. Last month, before the Christmas break, the House passed it on third and final reading.

Once the Senate passes the outlay, a bicameral conference committee would be convened to iron out the differences between the respective versions of the two chambers. The committee then drafts the final version.

Theoretically, the government is operating on the basis of last year’s P629-billion budget.

The House-approved P715-billion budget is P10 billion lower than Malacañang’s proposal.

However, opposition congressmen want the outlay further cut by a substantial sum to keep the yearly budget deficit down. The deficit last year went up from P62.5 billion to P140 billion due to poor revenue collection.

Congressmen belonging to the minority are warning the country’s economic and financial managers that unless the budget is cut substantially, the deficit will shoot up to more than P200 billion this year.

That would spell more economic difficulties for the nation, they said. Also included in the agenda is the controversial Omnibus Power Bill, which seeks the restructuring of the power industry and the sale of the state-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor).

Before Napocor is sold, the bill would pass on to the national government and end-users the firm’s billion peso debts. Some $10 billion (P500 billion) would be absorbed by consumers.

The House is expected to vote this week on the case of Rep. Jose Mari Gonzalez, who slapped the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms, retired Brig. Gen. Bayani Fabic, last Nov. 13, the day the House impeached President Estrada.

The ethics committee recommended the erring congressman’s expulsion last Tuesday but reversed itself in 24 hours and suggested that Gonzalez be reprimanded instead.

Opposition congressmen sitting in the committee resigned en masse in protest over the downgrading of the penalty. – Jess Diaz