Voting 21-0-0, the Senate passed House Bill No. 4488 or the 2023 General Appropriations Bill.

The senators agreed to reduce the Department of Education's confidential funds from P150 million to P50 million. The amount would be reallocated to the agency's Healthy Learners Institution Program.

Aside from the DepEd, Senate Finance panel chairperson Sen. Sonny Angara said the CIF of Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Justice, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Office of the Ombudsman, and other executive offices were slashed and moved to their maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).

Minority senators Risa Hontiveros and Koko Pimentel also pushed for a provision in next year's spending plan that would require agencies to submit a "work plan" for their confidential funds. No senators opposed the move.

The Senate also named the senators that would be included in the Bicameral Conference Committee that would finalize the proposed budget before submission to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. 

Angara would be the committee's chairman, with the following as:

• Senior Vice Chair:
• Sen. Pia Cayetano
• Sen. Loren Legarda
• Sen. Imee Marcos

Vice chair:

• Sen. Cynthia Villar
• Sen. Bato Dela Rosa
• Sen. Win Gatchalian
• Sen. Bong Go
• Sen. Risa Hontiveros
• Sen. Nancy Binay
• Sen. Grace Poe
• Sen. Francis Tolentino
• Sen. Mark Villar
• Sen. JV Ejercito

Members:

• Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano
• Sen. Chiz Escudero
• Sen. Jinggoy Estrada

The Congress is eyeing to pass the budget law "before Christmas."

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