The P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020 is already approved in its third and final reading in the Senate.
Twenty-two senators attended and voted in the session, with no opposition and no abstention.
Sen. Sonny Angara, chair of the Senate committee on finance, will lead the 15 senators who will serve as Senate representatives on the bicameral conference committee. The members are: Senators Panfilo M. Lacson, Cynthia A. Villar, Pia S. Cayetano, Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Christopher Lawrence T. Go, Richard J. Gordon, Imee R. Marcos, Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva, Ralph G. Recto, Nancy S. Binay, Grace S. Poe-Llamanzares, Franklin M. Drilon, Francis N. Pangilinan, and Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel.
The proposal includes additional funding for the Teacher Salary Subsidy increase.
Angara had previously assured that the new laws signed by President Duterte would be funded under the proposal.
The funds raised include the Department of Education (P6 billion); State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) (P1.158 billion); salaries of government nurses (P3.173 billion); and P920 million for the salary upgrade of soldiers in the Philippine Army; P150 million to Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) for medicine and hiring new personnel.
The 2020 National Budget will also allocate P1.529 billion for the Salary Standardization Law 5 of PNP staff and P32 billion to the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund.