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COPYRIGHT 2006 Asia Pulse Pty Ltd
MANILA, Nov 29 Asia Pulse - The Philippine Senate is expecting very spirited debate on the bicameral conference committee for the 2007 General Appropriations Bill regarding the P8.2 billion (US$165 million) it slashed from the budget version of the House of Representatives.
In a press conference, Sen. Franklin Drilon, chairman of the Senate committee on finance, said unless the Presidential Office intervenes, he is not discounting the possibility that the P8.2 billion the senators cut from the Lower House version would cause a deadlock in the bicameral conference level.
"Malacanang should intervene and tell its allies in the House that they should keep within the President's budget. Otherwise, if this is not done, then this could be a potential cause of a deadlock between the two chambers," he explained.
If the Senate finished the budget deliberations on schedule, the country's first ever trillion-peso budget (P1.126 trillion) will be approved by the Upper Chamber by December 4 this year.
He added that no less than Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and Budget Secretary Romulo Neri, which are all members of the Develoment Budget Coordinating Council, have taken...
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