The proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020, embodied in the committee report on House Bill No. 4228, was approved by the House Committee on Appropriations during a hearing yesterday afternoon.
This was confirmed by the principal author, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, following a rather surprising executive session by the committee when it was time to tackle the budget bill.
Only panel members take part in an executive session while media practitioners are ushered out of the room.
“This is what happened during the executive session: The first motion was to convert the (budget) briefings into a formal committee hearing. So it was converted…(there were) no objections, the approval was unanimous. After which we approved the committee report,” Ungab, who serves as panel chair, said.
“There (were) no objections, only manifestations. So madali din na-approve namin. After that we finalized the schedule (of the bill sponsorship and floor deliberations),” added the Mindanao solon.
The committee report was the result of the per-agency budget briefings – now committee hearings – conducted by the appropriations panel on the P4.1-trillion National Expenditure Program for 2020 from Aug. 22 to Sept. 6. The House leadership had boasted over the weekend that the hearings were complemented “in record time.”
The NEP serves as the basis for the budget bill or the General Appropriations Bill, which for all intents and purposes is HB No. 4228.
Regarding the executive session, Ungab insisted that it was nothing out of the ordinary. “Actually wala naman tinatago, but that has been the practice even since. Noong ako ay vice chairman pa, 2007 or 2010, ganun na rin ang practice noon.” (Ellson Quismorio)
http://tempo.com.ph/2019/09/09/house-panel-approves-budget-bill-floor-debates-to-start/
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