Abad: Collaboration Between Executive, Legislative Ends Era of Re-enacted Budget

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad on Tuesday highlighted the partnership of the Executive and Legislative branches of government, saying this finished the period wherein the government works around a re-enacted budget.

In a statement, Abad said the team-up “has put an end to the practice of frequent budget re-enactment during the previous administration and caused the passage of the GAA (General Appropriations Act) on time every year for the past six years.”

He said the tie-up resulted to a few numbers of budget provisions that were vetoed, three out of the 145 revisions and new provisions for the 2016 national budget.

He said President Benigno Aquino III “directly vetoed the use of income provisions under the budgets of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), and the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) in the absence of a separate law allowing agencies to use their income.”

He also said that only 27 provisions were subjected to conditional implementation, which he defined as “further guidelines or conditions are needed to implement these provisions in order to ensure consistency with existing laws, policies, rules and regulations.”

“I thank the members of the 16th Congress for their commitment to work alongside us in crafting a national budget that truly supports the Administration’s agenda for inclusive growth,” he added.

The President signed Tuesday the PhP3.002 trillion 2016 national budget. (PNA) LGI/JSV/EDS