Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said Congress is determined to pass the 2019 national budget.
He said a “reenacted budget is bad policy since it does not reflect changes in needs of our people and does not respond to our economic imperatives.” Salceda is a member of the House panel in the bicameral conference committee and is strongly pushing its approval.
A respected economist, the lawmaker said the fears in the public mind that a reenacted budget will endanger the increase in salaries of military and civilian state workers, the 2019 elections, the Southeast Asian Games hosting, the expansion of college scholarships to private schools, and the safety nets against inflation, are not entirely baseless.
“Our people, not Congress, are the biggest losers in a reenacted budget which government agencies will simply operate on the basis of the previous year’s appropriations. A reenacted budget also sends a wrong signal to investors about the ability of the Philippines to maintain the reform momentum,” he said.