Manila – To avoid the repeat of this year’s budget delay, President Rodrigo Duterte urged the Congress to ratify the proposed P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget by December.
Duterte said the four-month delay in the 2019 national budget’s passage was the reason for his “inability” to solve traffic problems in the country.
“Ito ngayon, we are waiting, wala pa eh, we hope to pass the law hopefully by December,” he added.
Duterte said the Senate and House of Representatives’ impasse over the 2019 budget affected a wide range of government projects, including those aimed at easing traffic in Metro Manila.
“Because Congress did not pass the budget on time, so apektado lahat,” Duterte said. “When there is no public spending, your economy will slow down, kailangan (government) will spend, so that the private sector will ride on it.”
Duterte signed the 2019 budget into law in April after the Senate and House took time to transmit the signed enrolled copy of the bill over disagreements on the lawmakers’ insertions./PN
