Senate oks P2.006-trillion budget bill

Published on Wednesday, 28 November 2012 22:30

Written by Butch Fernandez / Reporter

The Senate, voting 14-1, passed on Tuesday night on second and third readings in one sitting the Palace-proposed P2.006-trillion 2013 budget bill, which is 10.5 percent higher than the current year’s P1.816-trillion budget.

In pushing for its plenary approval, Sen. Franklin Drilon, chairman of the finance committee that conducted the Senate hearings on the money measure, confirmed that a big slice of the 2013 budget pie, amounting to P698.4 billion, was allocated for social-service programs, P510.9 billion on economic services and P333.9 billion for debt service.

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Drilon said the approved budget bill includes funding for public services, “which would create more jobs, better education, improved health-care services,” among others.

Once signed into law by President Aquino, the 2013 national budget would also “provide funds to finally close the resource gaps” in the education system such as shortage of teachers, textbooks and classrooms.

But Sen. Joker Arroyo voted against the money measure, sharing Sen. Miriam Defensor- Santiago’s earlier assertion that the Senate and House-approved versions of the budget bill looked like “xerox copies” of the original budget proposal that Malacañang submitted to Congress for scrutiny and approval.

“If you look at the budget as prepared by Malacañang, and the budget as approved by the House, and the budget [that] we in the Senate has just approved, all these three look alike as if they are xerox copies. Aren’t we expected to scrutinize and, if it need be, make changes thereon?” Senator Arroyo asked in explaining his negative vote.

He said, “This year’s gargantuan lump-sum appropriations, which are ultimately disposable by the President, directly and indirectly, have become bigger. This is anathema to budget making.  Itemization of expenditures, whenever possible and practicable, is the preferred mode.”

Arroyo acknowledged that over the years, every President sought to enlarge his powers in the budget.

“And over the years, every Congress feebly tried to rescind this Executive encroachment but the legislature always lost out.  For the 2013 budget, the President has more powers than in the 2012 budget.  Congress has hopelessly lost its power of the purse.”

Arroyo noted that it took the Senate only five days of “passive” plenary deliberations, from sponsorship to period of amendments, to complete the debate on the P1,368,328,156.00 budget for 2013, in contrast to the two weeks of heated debates in the Senate on the P40-billion “sin” tax bill.

“By congressional submission, the President’s power to impound appropriations rightfully due legislators remains intact.  That is why legislators cannot go against the President,” he said.

But Drilon does not foresee any major hurdles at the bicameral talks to hammer out a consolidated final version of the budget bills separately passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“We will immediately schedule the bicameral conference committee with the House,” he said, adding that there were no major amendments introduced in the Senate finance committee. “In fact, there are no major differences between the House and Senate versions [of the budget bill].”

Drilon said the bicameral talks on the budget would begin next week, in the hope that a reconciled final version of the 2013 budget bill can be ratified by both chambers and submitted to the President for signing into law before Congress goes on Christmas recess next month.