00:00The legislator has its work cut out for them in a few weeks,
00:04time when work to enact the most important piece of legislation begins.
00:09And the House of Representatives vows to do its part and pass the President's pet bill early
00:14to avoid any hints or chances of a reenacted budget
00:18that is the height of Congress's failure, as our Mela Lesmora reports.
00:24In a few weeks, the House of Representatives will begin its deliberations
00:29on the proposed 2025 national budget.
00:32According to House Speaker Martin Romualdez, among the sectors high in the priority list
00:37are education, health, agriculture, defense, social welfare, and infrastructure programs.
00:43The House Speaker said they will work doubly hard to pass the proposed
00:476.352 trillion pesos 2025 General Appropriations Bill
00:52before they go on break end of September 2024.
00:56This is also the promise of House Committee on Appropriations Chair Elizalde Co.
01:00He assures transparency and accountability will reign in their budget discussions
01:05as their goal is to craft a budget that truly serves the people.
01:09Appropriations Vice Chair Jeanette Garin, for her part,
01:12also expects marathon hearings just like in the past budget seasons.
01:16If it's possible, it's possible.
01:18But the important thing is that it will not be delayed too much.
01:22Because too much delay will also delay all the processes.
01:27So that if the budget ends early, the pre-procurement processes will be early.
01:33When the next year opens, the services will be fast.
01:38As a former Secretary of the Department of Health,
01:40she also has particular programs in mind she wishes to prioritize
01:44to further improve the country's healthcare situation.
01:47Maintenance medications of diabetes and hypertension, that's very important.
01:51Continue with the medical assistance program
01:55because the reduction of out-of-pocket expenditures will have a big impact on our people.
02:00On the part of the Makabayan bloc,
02:02they also outlined the agencies and programs they need to focus on
02:06to check if they are adequately funded.
02:08We need to prioritize the D.A.D.A.R.
02:11because this is the budget that will provide assistance to our farmers
02:16and will provide land to our farmers.
02:19So the D.A.D.A.R., and of course the DepEd, the D.O.H., the housing.
02:27So those are our priorities that the budget will look at.
02:31We will monitor the higher budget for military,
02:34especially in relation to the WPS issue, and the U.S. bases.
02:40We will monitor that because what's available there is what we need.
02:44Mela Lesmoras from the National TV Network for a new and better Philippines.
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