MANILA – Heeding the call of President Rodrigo Duterte, the Congress has passed the measures extending the availability of funds under the 2020 General Appropriations Act and the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2).
With an 18-0 voting, the Senate approved on third and final reading Committee Report No. 159, taking into consideration House Bill No. 8063 which was sponsored by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara.
According to Angara, more than a fifth of the P165-billion or P38-billion of Bayanihan 2 remains unobligated.
“If these agencies are unable to have these funds released and obligated by the end of the year, these are returned to the national treasury,” Angara said in his sponsorship speech.
He added that emergency authorities in the act, such as the power of the President to reprogram, reallocate and realign budget and shut down businesses, would not be extended, only the appropriations.
The Senate also approved the extension of the 2020 budget until Dec. 31, 2020. Both measures were certified urgent by Malacañang on Monday and were approved by the House of Representatives on final reading on the same day.
Citing data from the Department of Budget and Management, Angara said around P110 billion has yet to be released from this year’s national budget.
“These unreleased balances add up to P148 billion, which is no small amount,” said Angara. “Allowing these appropriations to lapse, amid a pandemic and a recession, would have significant impacts.”
“When every peso spent helps the country emerge faster from recession, returning funds to the national coffers amounts to a deferred, if not lost opportunity,” he added.
The extension of the two appropriation measures would push the spending authority of the government to about P4.8 trillion next year, including the P4.5 trillion 2021 budget and the unprogrammed funds under it./PN
