THE Senate leadership has lined up for plenary deliberation and early approval the proposed P3.7-trillion 2019 national budget on top of other priority bills when Congress resumes regular sessions at the end of the lawmakers’ four-week Christmas vacation on January 14.
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III confirmed on Wednesday that remedial legislation outlawing the so-called endo—the catch-all term used for work schemes that circumvent the usual route of regularizing workers after a probationary period —is also on the senators’ priority list of bills.
Congress had adjourned in December without passing a new budget for 2019 as the House of Representatives took time passing its version of the annual money measure before transmitting the budget bill to the Senate late last year.
The Senate, however, resisted calls to rush approval of the budget bill, subjecting it to further scrutiny following reports that the transmitted House version of the money measure included what some quarters deem to be pork-barrel funds for lawmakers. This, apart from reports of “budget padding” alleged to have been done by Department of Budget officials tucked in the annual appropriations of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Sotto gave assurances that the pending money measure would be front-loaded for final approval, to cut short the period during which the government will operate on “a reenacted budget” this year. There had been apprehension that, owing to Congress’ failure to enact the 2019 budget law within 2018, the period in which the country runs under a reenacted budget would actually be longer than the first quarter—or at last five months—owing to the May 2019 election period, which imposes restrictions on public works projects.
Meanwhile, Sotto confirmed that other measures in their priority list include pending reforms in the procurement law, the Local Government Code and the Omnibus Election Code. Sotto added that senators are also set to front-load deliberations on a bill adding more teeth to the anti-illegal gambling law.
“We need to speed up passage of these measures in the Senate and reconcile them with the House counterpart versions for final approval by both chambers as soon as possible, because we have little time left, as sessions are set to adjourn in mid-February to give way to the upcoming May elections,” Sotto added.