Senate sees end in sight for budget bill; tax reform next

THE Senate expects to finish interpellations on the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) by Friday and the bill completed by next week, Senate President Aquilino Martin L. Pimentel III said.

“Budget interpellations should be finished by Friday, then Monday to Wednesday (Nov.2022) next week we will finish the budget itself,” Mr. Pimentel said yesterday.

“After the budget we will tackle the tax reform bill,” Mr. Pimentel added, referring to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act.

Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III has said that “TRAIN and budget can be done on third reading by the 24th or latest 29th [of November]” and that the Senate may decide to pass some other priority bills as it expects to pass the 2018 budget and TRAIN on third reading prior to the adjournment of the session on Dec. 15.

According to the off ice of Senator Loren B. Legarda, who chairs the committee on finance, the budgets of at least 21 government agencies are scheduled for interpellation: the Dangerous Drug Board ( DDB), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency ( PDEA), Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor ( PCUP), and Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

Ten agencies are under the Department of National Defense (DND) including the Philippine Army, the Government Arsenal, National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), Off ice of the Civil Defense, Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), the Philippine Air Force, the Philippine Navy, the Veterans Memorial Medical Center ( VMMC), General Headquarters, and AFP Wide Service Support Units (AFPWSSUs).

Seven agencies under the Department of the Interior and Local Government ( DILG) are also expected to undergo budget interpellation such as Philippine National Police ( PNP), Local Government Academy (LGA), National Police Commission ( NPC), Philippine Public Safety Off ice (PPSO), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Bureau of Fire Protection ( BFP), and Office of the DILG Secretary.

Also up for interpellation is the budget of the Bureau of Customs, an agency of the Department of Finance.