Manila, Philippines — The House of Representatives is flexing its muscles to pass its own version of the appropriations bill on second reading on Wednesday, October 15, House Speaker Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte Jr. said on Thursday.

He said the lawmakers are seeking to iron out the budget bill, which is on top of the priority list of Congress. There are at least 3,000 bills filed at the House of Representatives, which prodded the House Speaker to direct the House Committee on Ways and Means to identify the most important bills that should be given full attention by the 15th Congress.

Belmonte expressed confidence that there would be “high-level participation” among his 272 House colleagues during the plenary session for the bill’s second reading.

“I’m very hopeful that people will be actively participating and hopefully, we will be able to finish this by October 15,” he told a press conference in his Office.

The House of Representatives started its hearings on the proposed P1.645-trillion budget for 2011 last September 1. Since then, President Aquino’s economic team has been attending the House committee on appropriations’ budget review.

The 2011 proposed budget is 6.8 percent higherse than this year’s P1.541-trillion budget, almost a third of which is being channeled to public services’ delivery.

Belmonte has thumbed down the call of the minority bloc to review the budget-slashing policy of the Aquino administration. Asked if he is open to amend the proposed 2011 budget, he said: “No. It is a realistic budget.”