MANILA – Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Monday said a congressman relayed to him that the House of Representatives agreed to withdraw the changes it made in the bicameral conference committee-approved 2019 national budget.
Lacson said in an interview that Rep. Ronnie Zamora told him that the House agreed with the version earlier ratified by Congress.
“Yesterday I received a call from Rep. Zamora. He said he was commissioned by the House to negotiate with senators. Sabi ko there is no way except for House to recall your version,” Lacson said.
He added: “May permiso ang House leadership na i-recall nila their version of the enrolled bill. From there we move forward.”
Zamora, in a separate statement, confirmed what Lacson said, saying that they will recall their version of the budget bill within the day.
The Congress failed to submit the proposed P3.757-trillion 2019 national budget for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature after the House made amendments on the ratified version.
The government is currently running on a reenacted budget after lawmakers failed to approve the P3.7-trillion expenditure plan before their Christmas break due to supposed insertions./PN
