(Eagle News) — The Senate on Thursday, Nov. 26, approved on third and final reading the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021.
Twenty-two senators voted for the approval of the bill, which would have allotted funds for the country’s economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A speakership row in the House of Representatives had threatened to derail the passage of the budget bill there, prompting President Rodrigo Duterte to personally appeal to the House amid fears of a reenacted budget that would not take into consideration the country’s needs amid the pandemic.
On Oct. 27, the House submitted the General Appropriations bill to the Senate.
With the approval of the proposed budget in the Senate, both the Senate and the House of Representatives are expected to convene into a bicameral conference to reconcile their versions.
The enrolled budget bill will then be submitted to President Duterte for his signature.
