BICAMERAL discussions to reconcile the Senate and House versions of the 2008 budget will center on the amount to be reduced from debt interest payments, said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.
Lagman, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, said his discussions with Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, his Senate counterpart, will start on Jan. 7 and will also deal with the augmentation of the budget for social services, education and health.
Special provisions will need to be written into the 2008 General Appropriations Act for these budget cuts and augmentations to be fully implemented, Lagman said.
While the differences in the House and Senate versions "cannot be vanished instantly by a magic wand, neither are they so disparate nor untouchable by a 10-foot pole" Lagman said in a statement.
Lagman and Enrile have been authorized by the House and Senate panels in the bicameral budget committee to come up with a compromise version of the budget before Congress reconvenes on Jan. 28.
The House version has proposed a P17-billion cut in debt interest payments while the Senate version proposes a lesser amount.
Lagman has expressed confidence that the bicameral conference committee will accept the reduction of more than P17 billion from the debt service payments, which would go to augment the outlay for such social services as health and education.
