By Hannah Torregoza The Senate has approved on third and final reading the measure seeking to extend the validity of this year’s national budget until the end of 2020. Senate of the Philippines (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, chair of the Senate finance committee, said the measure, which amends Republic Act No. 11260, otherwise known as the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA), will soon be transmitted to Malacañang for President Duterte’s immediate signature. The bill extends the availability of the appropriations under the 2019 national budget by extending it from December 31, 2019 to December 30, 2020. Angara said the bill’s enactment into law will ensure the availability of over P12 billion from the Calamity Fund and other quick response funds lodged with various agencies. This will also greatly help all government agencies involved in relief efforts, such as those for the recent series of earthquakes in Mindanao. “Through this measure we would be extending a big helping hand to the Executive Branch which has had to operate during the first few months of this year on a re-enacted budget, and the rest under pressure to spend up to P3.687 trillion of total available appropriations in a span of seven to eight months approximately amidst the election ban on government projects this year,” Angara said. “We do this because under Republic Act 11260 or the 2019 GAA and Executive Order No. 91 on the implementation of a cash-budgeting system, all appropriations that were not released, obligated, or paid by the Dec. 31, 2019 shall lapse and revert to the national treasury,” he added. Besides, the lawmaker said, it is not the first time the Senate is pushing a measure seeking to extend the validity of the GAA. “The Senate is not oblivious to the travails of the Executive Branch and we must help them. We must see to it that the national budget we approved for 2019 would benefit our people in terms of better services and more efficient public spending,” he said. Initially, the House of Representatives and the Senate were supposed to pass a joint resolution for the extension of the availability of the 2019 national budget. However, they decided to file separate bills due to the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Ang Nars party list case. In response to the ruling, the senator filed Senate Bill No. 1153 as the counterpart measure to House Bill No. 5437. Voting 19-0-0, the Senate decided to adopt House Bill No. 5437 without amendments to pave way for its immediate transmittal to Palace. According to Angara, the non-extension of the 2019 budget’s validity will have an impact on the Department of Education’s classroom project, as 2,900 classrooms would not be repaired and rehabilitated as scheduled. If the validity of the national budget for 2019 is not extended, it will also affect the Department of Health’s funding for infrastructure projects and medical equipment of 2,800 health facilities enhancement programs. Other programs that will also be affected include the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s supplementary feeding program; the implementation of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act; and the Department of Labor and Employment’s internship program. “Many other agencies would be able to implement their projects and provide their services to the people if the budget’s validity is extended,” Angara said. The 2019 General Appropriations Act was signed only last April 15, forcing the Duterte government to operate on a reenacted 2018 national budget for the first four months of the year due to the impasse between the House and Senate versions. By the time the GAA was signed, the election ban on construction of infrastructure projects had kicked in. “That’s why we want to extend yung validity nung 2019 budget,” Angara said.