NextGen Day

According to a House leader on Sunday, the recent passing of the PHP5.268 trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB), the first budget legislation under Speaker Martin Romualdez, demonstrated a higher degree of unanimity among House of Representatives members under the 19th Congress.

“The 2023 GAB—incidentally the largest in the history of the country—was approved by the House on third and final reading on September 28 during the final session day before the month-long recess,” said Rep. Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe, the majority leader in the house and representative for Zamboanga City’s 2nd District.

The congressman continued by pointing out that the “no” votes, or votes against the GAB, which in this case total only three, are what made the outcome fascinating.

He explained that the Makabayan legislators, who have historically opposed the budget plan, were responsible for the three no votes.

Records show five and nine members cast negative votes in the previous 17th and 18th Congresses.

Fewer opponents of the GAB, according to Dalipe, suggests a better level of consensus in the lower house, as evidenced by the votes for the budget cast by independent minority solon Edcel Lagman of Albay’s 1st District and Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan of the 4Ps Party.

Libanan credited the majority bloc for not railroading the GAB and allowing fruitful discussions at the plenary. Libanan and the rest of the minority bloc were the most active members in interpellating against the individual agencies’ allocations during the budget sponsorship and debate phase.

During his turno en contra right before the nominal vote on the GAB, Libanan observed, “Let me commend the Majority because, despite its numerical superiority, it did not behave like a raging freight train barreling through the railroad of lawmaking.”

And finally, he said, “let me thank our minority members for appropriately examining the budget with rational rather than emotional measurements, even while ensuring that their bucket lists for the benefit of their districts were handled as well.

Romualdez stated in his speech after the budget process that the chamber was able to “hammer out in no time the best possible version for the approval on third reading of HB (House Bill) 4488, or the proposed PHP5.268 trillion national spending plan for,” thanks to a “deep sense of urgency, combined with detailed scrutiny from our colleagues in the minority, and the tireless and unceasing cooperation of our fellow civil servants from various agencies in the Executive Department.”

The Leyte 1st District representative and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) president made special mentions to those from the majority, the minority, and an independent minority who tirelessly worked the past five weeks toward passing the GAB after seeing firsthand the stronger consensus on the budget.

“Given these initial legislative successes in the first two months of the 19th Congress, let me commend the zeal of our members, the tireless work of our Deputy Speakers led by Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe, who was ably assisted by his Senior Deputy Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, the chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, Congressman Elizaldy Co, and his workhorse, our

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