Before it adjourned its session for the holiday break, the Senate has ratified the bicameral conference committee report for the proposed bills on the 2018 national budget and the Tax Acceleration for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN).
Under the 17th Congress’ legislative calendar, the Senate will resume its session on January 15, 2018.
Spearheaded by Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, the Senate approved the bicameral report for the House Bill 6215 or the 2018 General Appropriations bill on Tuesday and the bicameral report for the Senate Bill 1592 also known as the TRAIN bill on Wednesday night.
Also on Wednesday, the upper chamber also approved on the third and final reading Joint Resolution No. 11 that seeks to raise the basic salary of military and uniformed personnel starting January 2018. It adopted House Joint Resolution 18 as an amendment to Senate Joint Resolution 11.
Under the P3.7-trillion proposed 2018 budget sponsored by the chair of the Senate Committee on Finance Senator Loren Legarda, the government’s social service programs such as education would receive the highest budgetary allocation.
Meanwhile, the TRAIN bill, sponsored by Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, chair of the Senate Ways and Means, covers a package of reforms to the existing tax regime in the country, including the income tax relief for almost 6.8 million workers.
The two measures, once ratified by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, will be transferred to Malacañang for the signature of the President.
With this, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. expressed gratitude to Congress for ratifying the said bills.
Roque noted that the TRAIN bill, together with other complementary measures to be passed in early 2018, would yield more than P120 billion worth of revenues during its first year of implementation.
“The administration is a government of ‘tapang at malasakit’. We will thus ensure that the benefits of tax reform will also be felt by the poor, vulnerable and marginalized,” he said.
The Palace also welcomed the decision of Congress to ratify the P3.767-trillion national budget for 2018, as it reiterated the President’s commitment to using the budget as a tool for change.
“The 2018 National Budget is a budget that seeks to reform and transform… we assure everyone that we will use people’s money to good use,” Roque said as he thanked government officials who worked diligently on the measure.