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Monday, 14 December 2009

Senate approves proposed 2010 national budget

MANILA, Dec. 14 (PNA) – The Senate approved on third and final reading on Monday the P1.5-trillion national budget for 2010 via a 12-1 vote with no abstention, boosting efforts to avoid a possible re-enactment of the current budget.

Despite interruptions due to imposition of martial law in Maguindanao, the Senate took only five days to wrap up the budget deliberations with some introduced amendments.

Those who favored for the approval include: Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Panfilo Lacson, Joker Arroyo, Jinggoy Estrada, Edgardo Angara, Gringo Honasan, Chiz Escudero, Miriam Santiago, Lito Lapid, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Ramon Revilla and Francis Pangilinan.

The only senator who voted against the budget was Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, explaining he is not satisfied with way the government spends the money.

Nine senators –-Angara, Arroyo, Honasan, Estrada, Pimentel, Pia Cayetano, Pangilinan and Zubiri-- have been chosen to represent the Senate at the bicameral conference committee meeting set on Tuesday at the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) headquarter in Quezon City.

”I’m very happy that we were able to approve the proposed budget for next year because we don’t want to have a re-enacted budget,” Angara, chairman of the Senate finance committee, said.

Some of the approved amendments are the realignment of the P1.2-billion budget from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), channeling P700 million to pensioners and P300 million to the Department of Social and Welfare Development (DSWD).

The senators also approved unanimously the motion of Pimentel for the Commission on Audit (COA) to create special audit unit that would look into the P10-billion annual budget of the ARMM.

”The proposal of senator Pimentel is transfer the conduct of special audit of the ARMM in Manila,” Angara said.

The proposal of senator Santiago to cut the budget of the Supreme Court by P166 million has also been approved, although Angara expects the motion to meet opposition at the bicam.

Other approved amendments are the additional P1.2 billion allotted for the implementation of the Clean Air and Solid Waste Management Act, setting aside P100 million for the newly-created Climate Change Commission.

The Department of Education (DepEd), which has the biggest budget amounting to P162.1 billion, got additional P162 million to boost the education programs of the government.

The Department of Science and Technology also received additional P100 million.

A total of P100 million has also been approved for the equipment modernization of government television station NBN Channel 4 even as the senators approved Pimentel’s proposal for NBN-4 to have a balance program.

”Pimentel suggested that our government channel which the NBN-4 should accommodate the opposition. We want our government station to have more educational and objective programs,” Angara said.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile expects the ratification of the budget on Thursday as the Senate suspended session for the next two days to give the bicam enough time to thresh out differences of the two versions of the budget proposal.

”We are hoping to ratify the budget after getting the bicam report on Thursday. We will have no re-enacted budget next year,” Enrile said.

The Senate has to work overtime, working from morning until evening to fast track the budget deliberations after Congress convened for a joint session for two days last week to tackle the constitutionality of the martial law.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lifted the martial law last Saturday, one week after it was imposed to return peace and order in Maguindanao following the massacre of 57 civilians on Nov. 23.

Completing the government departments with highest budget allocation are Department of Public Works and Highway with P117.3 billion followed by interior and local government (P65.3 billion), national defense (P57.6 billion), agriculture (P38 billion), health (P28 billion), state and universities and colleges (P22.3 billion), agrarian reform (P19 billion), transportation and communications (P16.4 billion) and DSWD (P14 billion). (PNA)
 
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