Dateline Kamuning:     President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed today the P5.2 trillion 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which will fund the administration’s recovery plan next year as the country emerges from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Among the priority sectors under the administration’s first national budget are education, public works, health, social welfare, agriculture as well as transportation. In his speech during the ceremonial signing of the GAA in Malacanang, President Marcos said its passage is essential because it will serve as a roadmap of what the government intends to do next year.     The government, Marcos said, has listed its plans for next year and it is now slowly moving toward realizing its goals such as carrying out all the needed structural changes. The signing into law of the General Appropriations Act is important because it will provide the government with a tool to transform the economy, the chie...

   Dateline Kamuning     With the firm resolve to have the proposed P5.268-trillion “Agenda for Prosperity” 2023 national budget signed into law before year-end, the House of Representatives and Senate convened the meeting of the Bicameral Conference Committee to harmonize the disagreeing provisions of the 2023 General Appropriations Bill.        Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez underscored the House’s commitment to ratify the first budget proposal under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. before Congress goes on recess especially since the measure aims to sustain the country’s economic growth, create more jobs, ensure food security and lower the cost of transport, logistics and energy, among others.