Speaker lauds Marcos' certification of 2024 budget bill as urgent; Opposition says its 'railroading'

House Speaker and Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez on Thursday welcomed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s certification of the proposed P5.768 trillion budget for 2024 as urgent.

"His decision to certify this crucial legislation as urgent reflects his unwavering commitment to the welfare and progress of our nation,” Romualdez said. 

Romualdez issued the statement after the President certified House Bill 8980 or the proposed P5.768 trillion budget as an urgent measure, an action which allows the House to approve the said bill on second and third and final reading on the same day.

House Deputy Minority leader France Castro of ACT Teachers party-list, however, has a different take on Marcos' decision to certify the bill as urgent. 

“Is there an urgency? We will need this budget for next year. Even if you certify it urgent now, we cannot use this immediately,” Castro said in a statement. 

“The certification only serves as a tool to railroad the debates which have been very limited in the first place to cover up improper spending of public funds,” she added.

Romualdez, meanwhile, maintained that the House is committed to a transparent and thorough budget process that adheres to the highest standards of fiscal responsibility.

“Our esteemed colleagues in the House have been diligently reviewing and fine-tuning the 2024 national budget to ensure that it addresses the pressing needs of our country and its people,” said Romualdez.

“We will continue to uphold the principles of accountability, inclusivity, and efficiency throughout the budget deliberations," added the House leader. 

Romualdez also vowed to pass the budget bill for 2024 on third and final reading next week before Congress goes on break.

Congress will be in session until next week, September 29 and will go on recess from September 30 to November 5.

“The expectation is that the President will sign the 2024 national budget in December, marking a crucial step in the fiscal planning and execution for the upcoming year,” Romualdez said.

Castro, however, countered that there was a time when committee briefings and pre-plenary were conducted for at least four weeks, on top of 15 days of plenary budget deliberations.

“Now it is reduced to just 11 days of committee briefings and 7 days of plenary. Add to this the much abused 'parliamentary courtesy' as well as extremely limited time to propound questions and you have a national budget that was barely scrutinized by Congress," Castro said.

"It is no wonder that many people think that the budget deliberations have been reduced to a venue to make vague, convoluted and even conflicting explanations on how the people's money was spent on activities that are not part of their mandate and even ask for more funds for it," Castro added. —VAL, GMA Integrated News