Senate finance panel eyes start of 2023 budget briefings on September 12 — Angara

The Senate Finance Committee is eyeing to start the briefings on the proposed 2023 national budget on September 12, Senator Sonny Angara said Monday.

"[W]e have a draft schedule where we will begin budget briefings at the committee level on September 12," Angara, chairman of the Senate finance panel, said in a Viber message.

Angara said they will start the deliberations on the proposed 2023 General Appropriations Bill with a briefing with the Development and Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) which is composed of the administration's economic managers.

After which, the Senate finance subcommittees will hear the budget proposals of the different government agencies.

"Headed by the various vice-chairs in their subcommittees, mag-briefing na [r]in sila," Angara said.

(The briefings for the budget of different agencies will start headed by the various vice chairpersons of the committee.)

Earlier in the day, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman submitted to the House of Representatives the proposed P5.268 trillion national budget for 2023.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said the House is eyeing to finish the committee and plenary deliberations on the budget proposal on or before October 1.

Under the Article VI, Section 24 of the 1987 Constitution, all appropriation measures shall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments.

Based on the Department of Budget and Management's proposed budget for next year, there are double-digit increases in the Philippines’ allocation on education, infrastructure, health, social protection, and agriculture.

According to Pangandaman, the proposed P5.268-trillion budget is crafted to withstand future risks, challenges, and shocks, with a 4.9% increase from the previous year. — RSJ, GMA News