P5-T spending plan: Lord Velasco vows scrutiny of 2022 budget

By Billy Begas

Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco on Monday underscored the need to scrutinize the 2022 national budget, the last budget to be approved under the Duterte administration.

“Kailangan natin itong busisiin, himayin, at buuin nang maayos upang makasagot sa lumalaking pangangailangan ng ating bayan ngayong panahon ng patuloy na pandemya,” said Velasco.

Velasco said the House expects the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to submit the National Expenditure Program for 2022 soon.

He also called on his colleagues to pass all the remaining priority bills in the 18th Congress particularly those that would further help Filipinos navigate and recover from the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The House will approve the amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Foreign Investments Act, and the Public Service Act, according to Velasco.

“To assist in our economic recovery, we are pushing for the taxation of Philippine offshore gaming operators and E-sabong betting activities,” Velasco added.

With pandemic lockdowns and other restrictions heightened the need for flexible and more efficient ways of doing business and administering taxes, Velasco said the House supports the Ease of Paying Taxes bill to institutionalize portability of transactions and the streamlining of compliance procedures.

He said the Medical Stockpiling bill, establishment of the Virology Institute of the Philippines and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are also in the priority of the House.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)