Bicam OKs proposed 2010 budget ‘in principle’

The bicameral conference committee has approved "in principle" the P1.5 trillion proposed national budget for 2010 after it resolved the major differences in the two versions, senators said Wednesday. "We are through with the deliberations, and on Friday we will submit the conference committee [report] to the Senate for approval. The same with the House of Representatives," Sen. Edgardo Angara, finance committee chairman, told reporters in Filipino. In a separate interview, Senate Majority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the bicameral committee would meet again Thursday to go over the final proposal so that they could submit it in the plenary on Friday. "The major differences have already been resolved. In other words, in principle, it's already okay. We'll have to discuss the wordings, though," he said. He, however, believed that amendments in the figures can still be made. Angara said the bicameral committee agreed to cut P300 million from the budget of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and realign it to the pensions and gratuities of the military and police officers. The Senate earlier reduced the ARMM budget by P1 billion as requested by Pimentel, who is from Mindanao. The joint congressional committee also cut the fund for capital outlay of the Judiciary upon the request of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. Angara said the debt service would be reduced by some P37 million. - Amita Legaspi/KBK, GMANews.TV