Nograles urges House to convene and pass the 2021 national budget

October 9, 2020

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Friday said the House of Representatives should convene and pass the 2021 national budget before their break scheduled on October 14.

In a TV interview, Nograles said the budget cannot be hostaged and the government cannot afford delays as the P4.5 trillion budget will be used for COVID-19 response.

“We cannot hostage the budget. We cannot afford any delays in the budget because included in the 2021 budget is our response to help solve problems in hunger and poverty and to jumpstart our economy,” he said.

“I think, I believe that the House of Representatives should convene and begin again budget deliberations and pass the budget before the break because remember Senate is in session and the House of Representatives has suspended session which is strange to the ordinary Filipino,” he added.

Nograles said there is an opportunity to pass the budget on time since the Senate continues to work on it.

“There is no reason to go on a break without passing it on third reading,” he said.

Nograles said the impasse in House is new to the public which believe they are keeping the budget in them.

Last night, President Rodrigo Duterte delivered a message telling members of the House to solve their issue or else he will “solve it for them”.

Nograles said the delay in the budget should not happen since all lawmakers are aware of their schedule.

“I think that’s the message of the President, it shouldn’t have happened because they should have stuck with the calendar. Remember the Senate is also working on a legislative calendar and a budget calendar at that… Remember, there is a bicameral conference committee because the House and Senate versions are not the same, they are usually not the same,” he said.

“So there’s always going to be a bicameral conference committee to iron out the differences… and any slight delay in that would be, would have cascading effect,” he added

Instead of waiting for their November resumption, Nograles said the House should pass their version of the 2021 budget to prevent delays.

“Even if you say you’ll pass the budget once House resumes, that is an assumption... (You can say there will be) no politicking on that date, November 16. You can presume as much. What if something else happens or you can never really predict what will happen on November... I mean, ideally you can pass it on third reading but why take a chance, when you can already pass the budget now, as prescribed by your budget and legislative calendar?” he said.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano approved the budget on second reading on October 6 and suspended sessions until November 16. Cayetano formed a small group of lawmakers to accept committee and individual amendments to prepare for the third and final reading. Ella Dionisio/DMS