The House of Representatives ratified on Wednesday the Bicameral Conference Committee Report on House Bill No. (HB) 4228 or the 2020 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) which provides for a P4.1-trillion national budget for fiscal year 2020. The timely ratification of the bicam report ensures the non-reenactment of the 2019 budget next year.
The ratification came almost 3 months after the House approved HB 4228 on Third and Final reading on September 20, 2019 in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s certification of HB 4228 as urgent.
Speaker Alan Peter “Compañero” Cayetano lauded and congratulated the Bicameral Conference Committee for a thorough review and timely approval of the 2020 GAB. The House Contingent was headed by Committee on Appropriations Chairman Rep. Isidro Ungab (3rd District, Davao City) while Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Sen. Sonny Angara led the Senate Contingent to the Bicameral Conference Committee.
The Speaker acknowledged that 2020 is a very symbolic year as it represents a perfect vision. “A vision we share with President Duterte to provide a safe and comfortable life for all Filipinos. Now more than ever is the best time to push for reforms to see this goal through,” he said.
“We passed a budget with no pork, no parked funds, and no delays with full transparency. While there is no perfect budget, both the Senate and the House of Representatives have identified areas where funds have been underutilized for various reasons. Thus, both houses made adjustments so it can now be fully utilized for programs such as the Build, Build, Build and social welfare programs in furthering the goal of improving the quality of life of Filipinos,” the Speaker said.
The early approval by the Bicam Committee provides the President ample time to review the Bill’s provisions and ensure that it is aligned with the priority programs of the administration, he said. “We now leave it up to the Departments, Agencies, and the rest of the Executive branch to fully implement the projects and programs with no corruption and with full transparency,” the Speaker said.
Meanwhile, Rep. Ungab said the Bicam conferees agreed on the disagreeing provisions of the 2020 GAB. “This is considering that no conferee objected to the motion to approve the Bicam Report,” Ungab said.
Among the critical programs of the administration to be funded by the 2020 budget are measures to implement new laws and policies that provide socio-economic assistance to all Filipinos and enhance security of the nation, such as the following: (1) full implementation of the Universal Health Care Act; (2) institutionalization of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program; (3) smooth transition to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; (4) implementation of the liberalization of rice importation; (5) creation of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development; and (6) National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
The National Expenditure Program (NEP) proposes a national budget of P4.1 trillion for 2020, which is 12% higher than the P3.662 trillion budget for 2019. The P4.1 trillion budget translates to 19.4% of the projected gross domestic product (GDP). In terms of sectoral allocation, social services will receive the lion's share of the budget followed by economic services, general services, debt burden, and defense.
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