00:00Barely two weeks are left for the Bicameral Conference Committee to put a final and acceptable general appropriations bill for next year on the table for the President to sign into law.
00:11Hence, members of the Bicameral Conference are held bent to get their acts together to clear this final stage of the budget-making process, despite all the snags and snarls along the way.
00:22Our Mel Alice Morris on the developments in the Bicameral Conference to include one House member from Surigao del Sur stepping down for reasons of propriety.
00:34House Committee on Appropriations Chair Mikaela Swan Singh is confident that the country will not have a re-enacted budget in 2026.
00:43This is despite setbacks in the deliberations of the Bicameral Conference Committee or Bicam on the proposed national budget for next year.
00:52Swan Singh said that the House of Representatives and the Senate are working together to resolve issues on the budget bill and she believes they will be able to finish it on time.
01:03I'm still very confident. I always say that as much as possible, we want to make sure we don't have a re-enacted budget.
01:12We're solutions-oriented. We want to find solutions to whatever areas of concerns or disagreements there are.
01:19So if we're able to resume the Bicam proceedings as soon as possible, that would be best.
01:27Meanwhile, Surigao del Sur First District Representative Romeo Momos Sr. was supposed to be part of the House contingent for the Bicam.
01:35However, he resigned from the Bicam over the weekend out of Delicadesa.
01:40Recently, a plunder and graft complaint was filed against him before the office of the Ombudsman, although he has already denied the allegations.
01:48If I will stay there, I'll be a drug, I'll be a drug, I'll be a drug, I'll be a drug, but there's a member that may penalize.
02:02But remember, I resigned as a member of the Bicam. Not because I'm guilty, I will correct it, I'm guilty, not that I'm guilty, but because...
02:15For now, it is still unclear how long the BICAM's deliberations on the 2026 budget proposal will take.
02:29But House Committee on Basic Education and Culture Chair Roman Romulo reminded that aside from passing the measure, its implementation is also important.
02:45Kasi kung wala rin naman talagang absorptive capacity para ma-implement siya properly, ay sayang yung pondo.
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