The House is planning to finish the plenary debates on the proposed 2023 P5.268 trillion budget next Wednesday.

In a “Laging Handa” briefing, Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo said the lower chamber plans to finish budget deliberations by September 28.

“We begin plenary debates tomorrow. The approval of the bill (General Appropriations bill) at the earliest will happen on September 28,” Quimbo, senior vice chairperson of the House appropriations panel, said.

“Hopefully, if all things go well by September 28, we can close the period of debate. We can open the period of amendments. And if this bill is certified as urgent, which is typically the case, we can also approve the bill on third reading,” she added.

Quimbo said she noticed most agencies focus on recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic in line with the President’s socioeconomic agenda. They also want to digitize their services.

“I think each agency recognizes it’s about time to make a digital pivot so they can be more efficient in delivering public services,” she said.

Quimbo said she expects plenary debates to be orderly like the budget briefings in the committee with full cooperation of the minority and majority members of the House.

“The minority will be there to fiscalize while the majority will be there to defend the budget. Because the members of the majority will be co-authors of this legislative measure,” she said.

If the proposed national budget for 2023 is approved by Congress, it will be the highest national budget. Jaspearl Tan/DMS