CONTINUING REFORMS FOR 16th CONGRESS: Senate President Franklin Drilon tells businessmen during the annual meeting of the Makati Business Club (MBC) held at the Peninsula Manila in Makati City Thursday, August 6, 2015, that the Senate will continue to work on bills that will improve the economy, create a stable political environment and expand the distribution of social services. “We shall continue in the last regular session of this Congress, and even beyond, the pursuit of good governance and the audacity to implement meaningful reforms, no matter how unpopular they may be,” Drilon said. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Senate President Franklin Drilon on Monday assured Malacañang that the chamber will pass the proposed P3-trillion 2016 national budget on schedule as it has done in the last five years.
“The Senate will pass the 2016 budget on schedule, for the unimpeded and timely delivery of government services next year,” Drilon said in a press statement.
He said the Senate will start soon its plenary deliberations on the proposed national budget, noting it has already received the 2016 General Appropriations Act version of the House of Representatives which was passed on third reading last October 9.
On Sunday, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda expressed hope the budget will be passed before the yearend “so that we can immediately implement the budget for the next year.”
Drilon added that aside from the 2016 budget, the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law will be on the top of the Senate’s agenda as it resumes its sessions Tuesday after a month-long legislative break.
He said that they will resume working on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which is currently pending on second reading at the Senate floor.
“We will continue to work hard on it so hopefully, it will hurdle the Senate before the year ends,” he said.
Drilon said the Senate has also made a priority and will strive to pass the proposed act increasing the monthly pension under the Social Security System (SSS), a measure which he is personally supporting.
The Senate leader later said that they will also continue to push the passage of other priority measures when sessions resume, such as the Customs and Tariff Modernization Act, the Public-Private Partnership Act, and the amendments to the charter of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC). (MNS)