House vows early passage of 2020 budget

Outgoing House of Representatives Majority Leader Fredenil Castro yesterday vowed early approval of the proposed P1.4-trillion national budget for 2020.

“The budget is important. I promise that we will finish it by October,” he told a news forum in Quezon City.

He said members of the incoming House should cooperate for the speedy passage of the spending bill. Congressmen will elect their new speaker, majority leader and other officers in the morning of July 22, when the 18th Congress convenes. In the afternoon, House members and senators will hear President Duterte’s fourth State of the Nation

The President signed the 2019 budget bill in April after vetoing House-initiated pork barrel fund insertions amounting to more than P95 billion. He had expected the measure to be on his desk before the end of 2018.

Wrangling by senators and congressmen over pork barrel insertions in the budget delayed its enactment. Some members of the President’s economic team are now blaming the delay for the lower economic growth in the first quarter.

The Chief Executive is expected to submit his proposed 2020 spending program to Congress on the day of his fourth SONA or a day after.

The House usually devotes August and September to committee deliberations on the President’s proposal.

Last year was the first time under the Duterte administration that enactment of the budget was delayed. Another House member, Makati’s Luis Campos Jr., assured the Department of Transportation of enough funding to operate the Sangley Airport in Cavite.

“Whatever the DOTr needs in terms of new appropriations, we are all set to authorize and make available. We really need multiple aviation gateways around Metro Manila, considering the average six percent annual growth in domestic air passengers alone,” he said.

Fast-growing metropolitan areas around the world depend on several airports, not just on one or two, Campos said.

“The state of New York, for instance, has 16 primary airports plus dozens of secondary, reliever and general aviation airports,” he added.

He pointed out that New York’s 20-million population is smaller than the combined 26 million of Metro Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna and Rizal.