President Rodrigo Duterte has certified the 2021 national budget as urgent, Malacañang said Friday, amid lawmakers fighting for the top post of the House of Representatives.
In a proclamation, the president expressed his desire for swift passage of next year’s budegt by certifying the ₱4.5-trillion proposal as urgent, said his spokesman Harry Roque.
Bills certified as urgent are exempt from a rule requiring lawmakers to study the measure for at least 3 days before voting on it.
He also called for a special Congress session from Oct. 13 to 16 “to resume the congressional deliberations on the proposed 2021 national budget and to avoid any further delays on its prompt passage.”
On Thursday night, October 8, the president chastised lawmaker for holding the budget hostage and appealed to them to do their jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Huwag naman sana ninyong sobrahan ang laro sa Congress na iyong budget mismo ang nailagay sa alanganin. I am just appealing to you.”
[Don’t be excessive in your play there in Congress that the budget is put in jeopardy.]
“Either you resolve the issue sa impasse n’yo d’yan and pass the budget legally, constitutionally. ‘Pag hindi n’yo ginawa, ako ang gagawa para sa inyo,” Duterte said in a taped public address.
[If you do not do that, I will do that for you.]
Lawmakers from the Senate are worried over possible delayed approval of the 2021 budget surfaced after House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano unexpectedly suspended session on Tuesday.
If the 2021 budget is not passed, a reenacted budget will be utilized. However, this will leave unfunded new programs especially those dedicated for the government’s COVID-19 response.
