Senate approves on final reading bill extending 2019 budget

House Bill 5437, which amends Section 65 of Republic Act 11260, or the General Appropriations Act of 2019, was approved by all 19 senators present at the plenary. (File photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — The Senate on Tuesday approved on final reading the measure extending the availability of the funds for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlays (CO) under the 2019 budget until Dec. 31, 2020.

House Bill 5437, which amends Section 65 of Republic Act 11260, or the General Appropriations Act of 2019, was approved by all 19 senators present at the plenary.

Senator Sonny Angara earlier said the approval of the measure is necessary as all appropriations that were not released, obligated or paid by the end of Dec. 31, 2019, shall lapse and revert to the national Treasury, as provided under RA 11260 and Executive Order No. 91 on the implementation of the cash budgeting system.

“In other words, without the approval of this measure, precious funds might not be spent and our people will experience even more delays in the projects and social services promised to them,” he said.

The chair of the Senate Committee on Finance said extending the validity of these funds would enable government agencies to implement their projects and provide their services to the people.

“Through this measure, we would be extending a big helping hand to the Executive branch which has had to operate in the first few months of this year on a reenacted budget, and the rest (of the year) under pressure to spend up to PHP3.687 trillion of total available appropriations in a span of approximately seven to eight months amidst an election ban on government projects this year,” Angara said.

HB 5437 was passed on final reading by the House of Representatives on November 18 with 192 affirmative votes and no negative votes or abstentions.