MANILA, Philippines — Senators have on Tuesday, 12 November 2019, started holding a morning session to discuss the proposed 4.1 trillion national budget for 2020.

From Monday to Wednesday, the Senate will now be holding regular sessions from 3:30 pm.

The meeting started at 10 a.m this Tuesday, with Senator Sonny Angara taking the floor as chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance to answer questions about the national budget.

On Thursday this week, the Senate will again hold hearings to deliberate on the budget.

Department of Finance, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Public Works and Highways, Anti-Money Laundering Council and the National Security Council, are among the departments set to discuss and support their proposed budget this week.

Angara stated earlier that the 2020 proposal, as approved by the Committee on Finance, contains higher funding for social services.

He said there was “a bipartisan consensus” to increase budgets for rebuilding schools that have been destroyed by the earthquake, school vouchers, free college, school feeding services, supporting indigent patients and sending nurses, doctors to poor areas, among others. (Marian Andrei Sinamban/IAMIGO/CNS)