Congress adjourns without passing budget measure

AFTER granting President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to extend martial law in Mindanao, Congress adjourned on Wednesday without passing the budget measure.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the country’s economic managers would urge the President to call for a special session.

“There is a possibility that the President may call for a special session to fix the budget. We will recommend the special session to the President soon,” Diokno told reporters in a news briefing.

But Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd said that even if a special session were held, there would no gurantee that the budget measure would be approved before the year ends.

“Even if we are called to a special session next week, we don’t have enough time for amendments and more so for a Bicam. At this point, it’s really January with or without a special session,” Sotto said.

Diokno warned that a reenacted budget may cause delays in infrastructure projects, job losses and higher poverty incidence.

He also cited National Economic Development Authority ( NEDA) data, saying that a reenacted budget could have a gross domestic product (GDP) growth impact of - 1.1 to - 2.3 percent in 2019.

The budget chief explained that this would result in a GDP of 4.7 to 5.5 percent next year, falling short of the 7 to 8 percent 2019 targets.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri echoed Sotto’s statement, saying the upper chamber would not finish deliberations on the proposed P3.757 trillion national budget for next year.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon blamed the House of Representatives for the delay in the passage of the proposed budget, saying senators received the bill late this year because of the insertions made in the budget.