Congress to prioritize 2017 national budget

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Congress will prioritize next year’s proposed national budget rather than the revival of the death penalty, according to prospective speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

He said Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno has asked that Congress pass the national budget for 2017 by the end of November.

However, the Department of Budget and Management has reportedly asked for at least three weeks following President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address on July 25, before the budget can be submitted to Congress as it has yet to review the P3.35-trillion transition budget for next year that the Aquino administration had drafted.

Alvarez said the proposed grant of emergency powers to Duterte to solve the traffic problem shall be discussed simultaneously with the budget. 

“It is because after November, comes December and that is our Christmas break, so the proposed revival of the death penalty will be discussed by January next year,” he said. “I am sure in the lower house we can navigate it by first quarter next year.” 

Duterte has been adamant in bringing back the death penalty as retribution for those who have committed heinous crimes.

He said that he wants death penalty restored as part of his war against crime and the continued proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.

Duterte has warned that unless illegal drugs are contained, the country will be ruled by narco-politics in the years to come.

“I believe in retribution. Why? You should pay,” he said.  “When you kill someone, rape, you should die.” 

However, Alvarez said the passage of those bills would also have to depend on the Senate.

“We still have to see how the Senate will navigate the said proposed bills,” he said.