Lacson urges House to pass 2021 budget before Nov 1 to avoid reenacted budget

Senator Panfilo Lacson urged the House of Representatives to approve the 2021 national budget on third reading before November 1 to avert a reenacted budget.

Lacson stated that Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's delay in transmitting the budget bill is equivalent to a month lost for senators to study the measure.

He questioned the purpose of receiving advance copies of an unapproved House version of the budget bill, emphasizing that the Senate can only file a committee report after the bill is transmitted post-third reading approval.

Lacson believes the House could resume session before All Saints' Day to pass their version of the budget, expressing confusion as to why they would wait until November 16.

The Senate aims to scrutinize the voluminous 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) when Congress goes on break on October 15 to November 15, hoping to take the bill straight to plenary when session resumes on November 16.

However, Cayetano moved to suspend session at the House on Tuesday, October 6, without having passed the 2021 GAB on 3rd and final reading.

Lacson stressed the importance of scrutinizing the budget bill to prevent significant funds from being lost due to incompetence or greed.