PRESIDENT Benigno S. C. Aquino III yesterday said he hopes to sign into law the proposed P1.645-trillion 2011 national budget before the year ends.
The bicameral conference committee started meeting yesterday in a bid to submit a harmonized version of the state spending plan for ratification before both legislative chambers start their Christmas break on Dec. 18.
"[The signing of the budget will be] not earlier than Christmas, but definitely we are hoping that it would be done before the end of the year," Mr. Aquino said in a press briefing after turnover ceremonies of a shelter program in Bani, Pangasinan.
Should the budget become law before yearend, it would be a marked break from the practice for some years of the past administration of relying on a re-enacted budget for the first few months.
Mr. Aquino also assured that safeguards are in place to ensure that massive funds allocated for the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, which had been nearly doubled to P21.9 billion next year from P12 billion this year to cover 2.3 million poor households from one million, would not be diverted.
The president said he had met with officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) last Monday to discuss the program’s implementation.
"We were finalizing the mechanics [of the CCT]. How do you actually deliver it? What are the guide posts and the targets that will be achieved at what time? So, I’m confident that everything that can be done has been done to fine-tune the program," Mr. Aquino said.
The president said he also welcomes other suggestions on enhancing the cash incentive scheme for the poor.
"We are still open to other voices who might tell us ways on improving the delivery of this vital service to quite a significant number of families below the poverty line," he said.
Earlier Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail D. Valte said that the Palace has formed a task force on the CCT composed of the DSWD as well as the departments of Health (DoH) and of Interior and Local Government to ensure an effective CCT program.
Representatives of the Senate and the House of Representatives started meeting yesterday to consolidate their respective versions of the national spending plan for next year.
House Appropriations committee chairman Rep. Joseph Emilio A. Abaya (1st district, Cavite) said he expects discussions to focus on the monitoring mechanism for CCT and health programs.
"We have yet to study the amendments submitted by the Senate, but I see something in between. We haven’t really discussed the cuts. Probably, we will consult the Speaker [Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr.] about it," Mr. Abaya told reporters after the bicameral conference committee meeting yesterday.
He added that while the P21.9-billion CCT budget remained "intact," there could be some "legal discussions" on the body that will monitor its implementation.
The Senate version of the budget bill replaced the lower House’s Congressional oversight committee with an inter-agency body, consisting of representatives of the Department of Education and of DSWD and DoH, that will monitor fund disbursements.
Another issue that needs to be threshed out during bicameral conference committee talks is the Senate’s P872-million cut from DoH’s P880-million family health program which will be partly used to buy contraceptives, Mr. Abaya said.
Part of the slashed amount was realigned to augment the budget for the 112 state universities and colleges by P143 million and the allocation for the Science and Technology department’s scholarship program by P121 million.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Franklin M. Drilon justified the cut and said that "putting budget for DoH’s contraceptives is a preemptive measure" since it was done before approval of the controversial Reproductive Health bill.
Despite the differences, Mr. Drilon is confident that the committee will come out with its report on Monday, with both chambers ratifying the budget bill before Dec. 15 which is informally their last session day for the year.
Lawmakers expect the President to sign the budget bill into law on Dec. 29 or 30.
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