THE House of Representatives finally gave its nod to the Duterte administration’s first cash-cased budget worth P3.757 trillion for 2019.
The lower chamber voted 196 to 8 to approve the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or House Bill No. 8169 on Tuesday, days after Senate President Vicente Sotto III requested an earlier approval than the November 28 target date of the House.
The move, which assuaged fears of a reenacted budget next year, came more than a month after the House approved the GAB on its second reading last October 3.
Next year’s appropriation is about P433 billion or 13 percent higher than the 2018 cash-based equivalent of P3.324 trillion.
Under a cash-based budgeting, all government programs and projects budgeted for the fiscal year should be implemented and delivered within the same year up to the three-month period following the end of the fiscal year.
This is a shift from the government’s usual obligation-based budgeting, wherein the implementation, completion, and payment of the projects and programs in the General Appropriations Act could be made beyond the yearend provided they are obligated within the fiscal year by contract or other modes of incurring an obligation.