Malacañang hopes to sign the 2020 national budget by mid-December

By Genalyn Kabiling

Malacañang is optimistic that President Duterte will sign into law the proposed 2020 national budget by the middle of December.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles (Photo from Karlo Nograles / Facebook page / MANILA BULLETIN)

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the Palace hopes Congress will ensure timely passage of the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget for next year following the start of the Senate plenary deliberations.

“We fully expect President Duterte to sign the General Appropriations Acts by mid-December,” he said in a statement.

“We’re hoping that Congress passes and approves the 2020 budget on time to ensure that last year’s delays are not repeated when we had to use a re-enacted budget in the first months of the new year,” he added.

Nograles also expressed hope that the 2020 national budget proposal would not suffer the same delay as the 2019 national budget.
The approval of this year’s national budget was earlier delayed over the standoff between the House of Representatives and the Senate over last-minute budget insertions.

“The members of the Senate promised that they would give priority to the budget’s approval. We’re hoping the Senators ensure that last year’s delays would not happen again,” he said.

Nograles cautioned that any delay in the budget approval might disrupt government initiatives to fight poverty and hunger.

“We saw the negative effects of the budget impasse on the economy and on government projects, particularly on sectors involved in job generation and livelihood creation. These should be avoided this time around,” he said.

He said they expect Congress to support programs that aim to address poverty in 32 priority provinces targeted by the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP). The programs include providing funds to address the education and health needs of schoolchildren.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) earlier submitted to Congress the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget to build on the administration’s gains on social services, infrastructure development, among others. The proposed 2020 budget is higher than this year’s P3.6 trillion outlay.

Once approved by the Senate, Nograles said the budget proposal would immediately undergo bicameral discussions and would be transmitted to the President for signing.