Plenary debates on 2024 national budget start this week

MANILA, Philippines — Plenary debates on the proposed P5.7-trillion national budget for 2024 will start on Sept. 19 after the appropriations committee of the House of Representatives terminated last week its scrutiny of the national government’s spending plan.

First to defend their budget before the 311 members of the House are the economic managers led by Department of Finance under Secretary Benjamin Diokno, along with Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

Other agencies like the Anti-Red Tape Authority, Mindanao Development Authority and Film Development Council of the Philippines will also be joining them tomorrow.

It will be the turn of the Office of the Ombudsman under Samuel Martires on Sept. 20, along with the Commission on Human Rights, Commission on Elections, Departments of National Defense, Science and Technology, and Trade and Industry.

The judiciary’s turn will be on Sept. 21, along with the Departments of Justice, Human Settlements and Urban Development, Agrarian Reform, Presidential Communications Office, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, state colleges and universities.

Budget scrutiny for the Departments of Social Welfare, Information and Communications Technology and Interior and Local Government will be on Sept. 22.

“We will work morning and afternoon and on Thursday and Friday this week to meet our timeline. The national spending bill is the single most important piece of legislation Congress passes every year,” Speaker Martin Romualdez said.

He said that the measure “will support the President’s prosperity and economic recovery roadmap.”

“Through the national budget, we hope to sustain our recovery from the pandemic, create more income and job opportunities for our people, and improve their quality of life through the timely delivery of basic social services like education, health care, infrastructure, and financial aid,” he stressed.

Next week starting Sept. 25, it will be the turn of the Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit, Departments of Energy, Agriculture and Health as well as DOE-attached Energy Regulatory Commission.

The budgets of the Office of the President (OP) and Office of the Vice President (OVP), along with the Department of Education that is concurrently headed by Sara Duterte, will face questioning on Sept. 26, along with the Departments of Public Works and Highways and Environment and Natural Resources.

It will be the turn of the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Transportation, and Budget and Management (DBM) along with the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council on Sept. 27, the final day of plenary debates before Congress adjourns on Sept. 30.

Rep. Zaldy Co of Ako Bicol party-list, chairman of the House appropriations committee, disclosed earlier that DBM assured them Congress’ power of the purse will not be subverted in the fund release to OVP.

“While it is understandable that the release of funds to the OVP may be perceived as a transfer, the same was not technically so, for such release was funded from Contingent Fund under the 2022 GAA and not from the budget of the OP,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman wrote in her letter.

She also noted that the use of contingent fund isn’t limited to a particular agency or office and only prohibits its use for the purchase of motor vehicles.

By their nature, contingent funds are intended for expenditures not anticipated during the preparation of the budget.