LEYTE 1st District Rep. Martin G. Romualdez made it crystal clear that the absolute top priority of the 19th Congress in its First Regular Session is the passage of the 2023 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or the national budget.

Asked in an ambush interview Monday what would be the top five priority bills of the Marcos administration, Romualdez quickly mentioned the national budget.

“First of all, there’s the budget. Then there’s some follow on what we have already passed in the House and the Senate in the previous 18th Congress. So a number of those have already been refiled,” bared Romualdez, president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD).

The Visayan lawmaker expressed confidence that all priority legislation of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. would be passed by Congress within one year, or within the first regular session.

“We will pass all these measures within the First Regular Session. Of course the most important is the 2023 budget which we will pass, definitely well, well within the third quarter, or the last quarter rather, and the President will have sufficient time to sign it into law before the year ends,” he stressed.

“As you know the executive has the prerogative to submit the NEP (National Expenditure Program), or the proposed budget [within a] 30-day period from the delivery of SONA (State of the Nation Address). We will expect the [submisison of budget] within that time of period,” Romualdez said.

“I don’t want to preempt the President’s SONA statement, but we will take our cue from his SONA priority message,” added the former House Majority Leader of the 18 Congress.

Marcos will deliver his first SONA on July 25 at Batasang Pambansa Complex during a joint session before the House of Representatives and the Senate.

From there, the executive branch will submit the 2023 NEP, which would then be used as the basis for the 2023 GAB.

Marathon hearings will follow as House members headed by the House Committee on Appropriations scrutinize the bill’s budget allocations for each department in government.

Once it is approved by Congress and signed by Marcos, the GAB becomes the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Romualdez also said he expects a smooth working relationship with the Senate under the Marcos administration, especially with the help of the super majority coalition.

“No hindrances are anticipated. We have talked about it with economic managers, with our counterpart in the Senate and in the House, we have actually more time discussing that with [the] leadership and sometimes the Senate is maybe more deliberate, it will take time. But we don’t anticipate any hindrances or any problems, we are looking forward to [a] very smooth and functioning Congress, both House and Senate.