Duterte to submit proposed 2020 nat’l budget in August

MANILA -- President Rodrigo Duterte will be submitting the proposed 2020 national budget in the first or second week of August, a Palace official said on Monday.

In an interview over PTV-4, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the proposed budget is still being finalized.

Last year, Duterte submitted the proposed PHP3.7-trillion national budget for 2019 to the Congress on the same day he delivered his third State of the Nation Address (SONA).

In his 4th SONA on Monday, Duterte did not mention national budget but urged members of the 18th Congress to pass pieces of priority legislation concerning major tax reforms, salary increases, national land use policy, new departments and restoration of death penalty for drugs and plunder, among others.

Despite having transmitted the 2019 budget early, the government operated on a reenacted budget since January 1 this year after lawmakers failed to pass the bill on time.

Its passage was stalled due to allegations of lastminute amendments made by the House of Representatives after both the House and Senate ratified the bicameral conference committee report.

After ending the budget impasse, the Congress transmitted the proposed budget spending to Duterte on March 26, 2019.

Duterte finally signed the 2019 budget but vetoed several provisions on April 15, 2019. (PNA)