Both chambers of Congress ratified Friday the bicameral report approving a P1.540 trillion 2010 national budget which cut P400 million from the P1.541 trillion sought by the Arroyo administration.

The Upper Chamber, with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile presiding, ratified by a majority vote the P1.540 trillion budget approved by the bicameral panels of both House and Senate.

Senator s Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III, Manuel “Mar’’ A. Roxas II and Panfilo Lacson cast the negative votes in the session attended by seven other senators.

The seven who voted for the ratification of the bicameral report were Senators Enrile, Richard Gordon, Edgardo Angara, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Gringo Honasan, and Alan Peter S. Cayetano.

With only 28 congressmen present, the House of Representatives ratified Friday the bicameral conference committee report on the 2010 P1.540 trillion national budget, serving as the final legislative guarantee against the feared re-enactment of this year's allocation.

The bicameral panel had agreed to cut P400 million from the original Malacañang proposal. It also slashed P64 billion from the proposed debt service allocation, with the amount distributed to priority programs that agrarian reform, infrastructure development and agriculture.

A consolidated GAA measure is expected to be sent by Congress to President Arroyo for veto or approval.

"The President has 30 days to sign it from the day it was received," said Quirino Rep. Junie Cua, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations.

Cua said the "pork barrel" for the House was adjusted to the requirements of additional congressional districts and new party-list solons.

There will now be 284 congressional seats to be funded.

Each congressman will receive P70 million in pork barrel under the Priority Development Assistance Fund. Senators, on the other hand, will have a P200-million share each.

With Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara presiding, the chamber approved the bicameral report at exactly 5:40 p.m.

Speaker Prospero Nograles said quorum was no longer required in Friday's session, pointing out that the last session was merely suspended.

"That means its a continuation of the last ssession. That's provided for by the rules and as long as both majority and minority are aptly represented and they both concur that is compliance with the rules of the House," he said.

Nevertheless, it was clear that the House leadership demonstrated caution in yesterday's session.

Immediately after ratification of the report, Del Mar banged the gavel for recess, apparently not wanting any of his colleagues to question the quorum.

After opening the session at 4 p.m., Deputy Speaker for Visayas Raul del Mar accepted one item in the order of business which is the ratification of the bicameral panel's report on House Bill 5049 and Senate Bill 3286 which amended Republic Act No. 8042, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers Act of 1995.

Present were four minority solons - Reps. Roilo Golez (Independent, Parañaque City); Didagen Dilangalen (PMP, Maguindanao); Salvador Escudero (NPC, Sorsogon); Rafael Mariano (Anakpawis), and Joel Maglunsod (Anakpawis).

With an increase of 8.1 percent from the current national allocation, next year's budget maintained the education department in the highest priority, receiving the biggest slice of the budget pie.

The bicameral committee also rejected a proposal to slash the budget of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by P1.126 billion.

This is the first time since 2001, the start in the Arroyo administration, that Congress approved the GAA before its Christmas break.

In the Senate, Aquino said he was objecting to the report because of his protest against the way the Arroyo administration has been spending recklessly government revenues.

Roxas, on the other hand, said the budget only served to increase the deficit and the increase of the pork barrels of members of Congress.

The ratification of the bicameral conference committee report was steered through the Senate by Angara, chairman of the Senate finance committee.

Pimentel expressed reservations about budget but agreed to vote for the report of the Angara-led bicameral committee, saying Angara has been fair in dealing with members of the opposition.

Angara said the budget was intended to allow the economy to grow so that gross national product (GDP) does not contract because its effect “would result to more job losses and less food produced, so more hunger.’’