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MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives approved a proposed measure at second reading on Wednesday that would extend the availability of the 2020 national budget until December next year.
By voice vote, the lower house approved House Bill No. 6656, which modifies the Law of the Republic No. 11465 or the General Law of Allocations of Fiscal Year 2020.
Under the measure, the 2020 national budget allocations will be available for release and disbursement until December 31, 2021. The 2020 budget was supposed to expire at the end of this year.
On Wednesday morning, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sonny Angara and House Appropriations Chairman Eric Yap expressed their intentions to extend the effectiveness of the 2020 national budget to help cushion the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the recent typhoons that ravaged the country.
This comes after the bicameral conference committee adopted and approved the final version of the proposed national budget for 2021, which is seen to lead the country’s pandemic and calamity response and recovery efforts.
“What we are going to work on once we approve the budget is the extension of Bayanihan 2 and 2020 [General Appropriations Act] because under the 2020 GAA, many of the projects were delayed due to closure, quarantine, ”Angara told reporters.
“Additional time is needed … On the last day of the year, December 31, mare-revert ‘yun sa Treasury kung hindi namin i-extend’ yung effectiveness of the 2020 budget,” added the senator.
(Additional time is needed … The budget is due on the last day of the year, December 31, so if we don’t extend the 2020 budget, it will roll back to the Treasury.)
KGA
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