Photo Release

Day 3 of budget debates: Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" F. Zubiri presides over the plenary session Monday, November 13, 2023. As the chamber resumed its marathon debates on the 2024 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), Zubiri lamented the delays in the construction of the Bukidnon Airport, particularly, in the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines' (CAAP) bidding process for the airport project's fourth phase. He stressed that agencies should streamline their procurement procedures as mandated under the Ease of Doing Business Act. "Is it proper that it would take so long to award a bidder of this contract?" Zubiri asked. "That is irregular, as far as I'm concerned," the Senate chief added. On the third day of plenary deliberations on the 2024 GAB, the Senate has submitted for plenary approval the proposed budgets of the Judiciary, Anti-Money Laundering Council, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, National Security Council, Department of Migrant Workers, Presidential Communications Office, Department of Transportation, Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Department of Energy and their attached agencies and corporations. (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)