A first-term lawmaker has commended the leadership of the House of Representatives led by Speaker Martin G. Romualdez for the record-breaking early enactment of the 2023 national budget.
Bulacan Rep. Salvador Pleyto said he couldn’t help but feel proud over the achievement, which is directly attributable to Congress.
“I am very proud to be a member of Congress as neophyte congressman, that our budget was signed by the President [Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.], the fastest ever in our history,” Pleyto, vice chair of the House Committee on Public Works and Highways, told reporters, said.
“I did my humble little share in the early passage of our budget, as member of our Appropriations Committee. We really participated in the deliberations of budget bill at the committee level and in the plenary,” he added.
On Friday afternoon, Dec. 16, President Marcos affixed his signature to the P5.268-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) or national budget for 2023–the biggest ever in the country’s history.
Romualdez has said that the 2023 GAA is the only budget in recent memory to have been signed in mid-December.
Romualdez earlier said the House of Representatives and the Senate deliberated on and approved the President’s first full-year budget proposal “in record time.”
“As far as I can remember, the 2023 budget is one of the few spending bills signed into law in mid-December, way before the start of its implementation on New Year’s Day,” he added.