Senate Finance Committee chairman Sonny Angara on Friday vowed to deliver within the year the General Appropriations Bill for 2021 that helps the sick, boosts the health care infrastructure and at the same time allow the economy to recover quickly.

Angara said this year’s spending plan has the COVID-19 pandemic at its core and aptly tagged as a virus-slaying budget.

He gave assurance each proposal will be thoroughly deliberated upon with nothing compromised although the hearing will be done via teleconferencing.

“We will be thorough in our review for that has always been the Senate way. We will not sacrifice scrutiny for speed,” he said.

According to him, the online nature of the deliberations should not prevent the solons from delivering a careful scrutiny of the various agency spending proposals: Recent Senate hearings have shown that distance has only made the questioning from senators more detailed. Zoom has allowed them to zoom in on the small details.”

He also committed the budget will be passed and signed by President Duterte before the end of the year.

“And I say this with confidence that we will meet the deadline of a well-crafted budget ready for the President’s signature long before the year ends,” he said.

He reiterated the COVID-19 will dictate the thrust and content of the 2021 budget bill.

“As all funds to fight the pandemic will emanate from this spending bill, then it should be a fighting budget, not a business-as-usual one. In a nutshell, the challenge is to pass a budget that will help the sick, the health system and the economy recover,” he said.

Four days earlier, the Department of Budget and Management submitted the proposal budget as endorsed by Malacañang to Congress.

The lion’s share of next year’s budget will go to the social services sector to fund health-related programs addressing the continuing threat of the pandemic.

Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said the Department of Education gets the largest chunk with total allocation reaching P754.4 billion.

This is followed by the Department of Public Works and Highways with a proposed budget of P667.3 billion; the Department of the Interior and Local Government, P246.1 billion; the Department of National Defense, P209.1 billion; the Department of Health, P203.1 billion; the Department of Social Welfare and Development, P171.2 billion; the Department of Transportation, P143.6 billion; the Department of Agriculture, P66.4 billion; the Judiciary, P43.5 billion; and the Department of Labor and Employment, P27.5 billion.  (Daily Tribune)