Senate panel open to adjusting budget for calamity aids in 2023 due to recent typhoons — Angara

Following the onslaught of the recent typhoons in the country, Senate Finance Committee chairperson Sonny Angara on Wednesday said they are open to adjusting the funding for calamity aids under the proposed 2023 national budget.

“The calamity fund budget is roughly P30 billion which is larger than in past years. Given the increased frequency and magnitude of recent typhoons, this is appropriate,” Angara said.

“Certainly the committee will always be open to changes which may help our people during these difficult times and which will improve the governments response to these calamities,” he added.

Angara said the committee report for the 2023 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) which contains the P5.268 trillion proposed national budget for next year will be filed on Tuesday. It will be sponsored on the Senate floor on the same day.

Last October 24, the House of Representatives transmitted the copies of the 2023 GAB, as approved by the lower chamber, to the Senate.

Once the 2023 budget is sponsored on the plenary, senators may now start the debates on the funding of the programs and projects of the different departments and government agencies.

In September, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. certified as urgent the passage of the 2023 GAB “in order to address the need to maintain continuous government operations following the end of the current fiscal year, strengthen efforts to respond more effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic, and support initiatives towards national economic recovery.”

The “urgent” certification from the president allows the approval of a bill on second and third reading on the same day. — Hana Bordey/RSJ, GMA News