Senate to ‘presume regularity’ in House’s approval of P20-B amendments to 2021 GAB

October 23, 2020 06:45 PM

Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III announced that Senate will presume regularity in the P20-billion worth of amendments by the House of Representatives to the P4.5T national budget for 2021.

Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III announced that Senate leaders will presume regularity in the P20-billion worth of institutional amendments submitted by a small committee in the House of Representatives to the P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021 which the plenary recently approved.

P20-B worth of amendments

The amendments include—but are not limited to—the following:

• P5.5 billion for procurement of COVID-19 vaccines

• P1.7 billion for the Department of Education to assist online classes by providing internet connectivity

• P2 billion for the Department of the Interior and Local Government for mobility funds of the police

• P4 billion for the Department of Labor and Employment to support displaced workers

• P2 billion for pandemic assistance to affected families

"We will presume regularity"—Sotto

The P4.506-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) was passed on third and final reading last Friday (October 16) in the House of Representatives by a vote of 257-6.

Sotto said the amendments introduced after the third reading in the House are valid if the congressmen had approved the action prior to voting in the plenary.

"If they manifested to do that before they approved on third reading, subject to style, then it's possible. It means they approved it in principle," the Senate President clarified.

Senator Sonny Angara, chair of the Senate finance committee, agreed with Sotto, saying "It’s a co-equal House and we know that House leaders know the procedures outlined in the Constitution and will comply with such."

Sotto added, “As they submit to us, we will, of course, presume regularity."

The GAB is expected to reach the Senate by October 28.