(Eagle News) — Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives held a bicameral conference on Thursday to thresh out the differences in their respective versions of the budget bill for 2018.
Attending the executive session were members of the finance committees led by Senator Loren Legarda and Rep. Karlo Nograles.
The bicameral conference was held a day after the Senate approved, with a 16-0 vote, its version of the 2018 General Appropriations Act.
This was months after the House of Representatives approved its own version.
In an ambush interview, Senator Panfilo Lacson said it was decided during the meeting that two small groups led by Legarda and Nograles would be in charge of threshing out the differences between the two versions.
“Kasi kung lahat kami magdi-discuss, hindi matatapos…Ngayon, kung sino yung gustong isama ng chairperson ng Senate or House from among the members of the bicameral conference committee, isama nila,,” he said.
After the differences have been threshed out, the groups will reportedly report to the others what has been discussed.
Nograles said they were expecting to come out with the reconciled version before December 13, when Congress suspends session.