Malacañang: Senate must pass budget

Malacañang said yesterday that the Senate has no reason to whine over the non-passage of the General Appropriations Act of 2006 and that the chamber has no better choice than to work doubly hard to approve the budget.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the House of Representatives will transmit the proposed appropriations measure to the Senate within the week.

After 19 hours of deliberations that began on Wednesday and lasted early Thursday morning, the House passed the P1-trillion budget for 2006.

"We’re not giving up on that. When the time comes, the Senate will have no choice but to act swiftly," Bunye said.

He said the Senate is unlikely to take too much time in passing the budget, since it had been conducting budget hearings parallel to those done by the House.

"They already had advance work so I don’t see anymore obstacles in passing the budget," he said.

It will be recalled that the senators accused the Palace and House of conniving to delay the passage of the 2006 budget bill to allow President Arroyo to use funds appropriated for already completed projects for Charter change initiatives and other moves to stay in office in the face of many political crises.

The senators said a reenacted budget would be beneficial because of the leeway it would give the President in disbursing funds. — Aurea Calica