House confident of P5.26T NEP okay before deadline
HOUSE Majority Leader and Zamboanga City Representative Manuel Jose Dalipe on Thursday said that the House of Representatives will give its full and undivided attention to the approval of the P5.268 Trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2023 following the passage of two non-budget measures deemed as “urgent” by the House leadership and the Marcos administration.
Dalipe made this statement following Tuesday’s third reading approval of House Bill (HB) No. 4673, which seeks to defer the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections for one year.
Last Monday, the House also passed HB 14, which seeks to mandate the registration of all postpaid and prepaid mobile phone subscriber identify module (SIM) cards to lessen mobile phone-enabled criminal activities.
The House also passed on second reading HB 4125 or the proposed “Ease of Paying Taxes Act”, which seeks to simplify the process of tax payments.
“From now until next week, we can put our full and undivided attention to the approval of the NEP so that we can quickly move on to other equally urgent legislations. It is good that we have already passed the SIM card registration bill and the postponement of the Barangay and SK elections,” Dalipe said.
Dalipe said the House is committed to finishing the sponsorship and floor debates by Wednesday next week (September 28) and approving the budget on September 30.
Already terminated for plenary debates are the budget proposals for the following government agencies: Office of the Ombudsman; Mindanao Development Authority; Anti-Red Tape Authority; Commission on Elections; Commission on Human Rights, including Human Rights Violation Victims’ Memorial Commission; Department of Science and Technology, including Attached Agencies; Department of Justice, including Attached Agencies; Philippine Space Agency; Film Development Council of the Philippines; Optical Media Board; Philippine Racing Commission; Civil Service Commission, including Career Service Executive Board; Southern Philippines Development Authority; Development Academy of the Philippines; Cultural Center of the Philippines; Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority; Cagayan Economic Zone Authority; Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority; Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan; Climate Change Commission; Philippine Center for Economic Development; Games and Amusement Board; Philippine Sports Commission; Bases Conversion and Development Authority; Commission on Filipinos Overseas; National Commission for Culture and the Arts; National Historical Commission of the Philippines; National Library of the Philippines; National Archives of the Philippines; Commission on the Filipino Language; Philippine Competition Commission; Commission on Higher Education; State Universities and Colleges (NCR, Regions I to CARAGA Region, CAR, BARMM) and the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.
Dalipe said the rate of progress in the approval of the budget proposals of each government department has been very satisfactory and is within the timeline set by the House Committee on Rules.
Without any hitches, Dalipe said that the House is expected to terminate the floor debates and make way for the period of amendments on Wednesday, September 28.
“We can work until the wee hours if needed. We want to expedite the approval of the NEP so that we can also attend to the other equally important measures. We have other priority bills, which we intend to pass during the 19th Congress,” Dalipe said.
