HOUSE Committee on Appropriations Senior Vice-Chairperson Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo (2nd District, Marikina City) gave reassurance on Tuesday that the 2023 General Appropriations Bill would be approved as scheduled by October 1, 2022. She made the commitment during the “Ugnayan sa Batasan” Majority News Forum, with House Committee on Dangerous Drugs Chairperson Robert Ace Barbers (2nd District, Surigao del Norte), and Committee on Agriculture and Food Chairperson Wilfrido Mark Enverga (1st District, Quezon).
Also according to Quimbo, Appropriations Committee Chairperson Elizaldy Co (Partylist, AKO BICOL) stated that lawmakers are fully committed to their constitutional mandate to review the proposed budget and assess where amendments are needed to ensure that government spending supports the President’s eight-point economic agenda.
“It is our goal to enact the 2023 GAA as scheduled to fund our economic recovery programs and projects, as well as to be vigilant in monitoring their implementation,” Quimbo said.
She also clarified that the indicated projected borrowings in the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP) of P2.2-trillion is within the usual range.
“Actually, it’s only 11 percent of the P5.268-trillion that will go to debt service payments. Ang principal payments po ay hindi nangangailangan ng appropriations,” Quimbo clarified. Enverga, also welcomed the 39 percent increase in the proposed budget for the agriculture sector.
“In general, masayang masaya po tayo. Tumototoo po ang ating Pangulo, si Bongbong Marcos, kung saan number one po sa agenda niya is food security which I definitely am sure would be very much inclusive,” Enverga said.
Also during the forum, Barbers explained that he re-filed House Bill 1543, re-imposing the death penalty as a capital punishment because he believes that it could be a strong deterrent to the commission of heinous crimes.
