Malacanang is optimistic that the 2005 General Appropriations Act would be passed on time as the plenary deliberation on the national budget remains on schedule.

In a radio interview this morning, Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye, expressed confidence that the discussion on the 2005 GAA will be finished on Tuesday next week.

"We believe that the Senate deliberation remains on track, they are on schedule as far as the hearings on the budget are concerned. So we are confident that the deadline they set Tuesday next week will be attainable," said Bunye.

The Secretary is also elated with the approval of the budget of the Office of the President (OP), Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) and other related line agencies last Friday.

The Palace submitted a P907.6 Billion proposed budget to Congress sometime last year.

On December 2004, Congress leaders assured President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that they will work for the passage of the 2005 national budget sometime in February 2005.

This only shows the strong partnership between the Executive and Legislative branch of government in pushing for economic reforms as prioritized by the Arroyo administration.

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Malacanang today urged Congress to amend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) Law so that the P8 billion proceeds of the Marcos wealth could be tapped in indemnifying all human right victims during the Marcos regime.

Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye, in a radio interview this morning also assured the victims that the said funds earmarked earlier by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo remains intact.

"President Arroyo had ordered the Department of Budget and Management to earmark P8 billion from the proceeds of the Marcos wealth awarded to the Philippine Government. But, we need to amend first the CARP Law, because the law says that any amount the government would receive from the Marcos family would be used for the CARP program," Bunye explained.

It is up now up to the legislators in both Chambers of Congress Bunye said to come up with a measure that would amend the existing CARP law and redirect every centavo the Philippine government would receive from the so-called Marcos ill-gotten wealth.

Bunye admitted that President Arroyo recognizes the need of every human right victim during the Marcos regime to be covered by the proceeds of the Marcos wealth.

"On the part of the Executive, the President has earmarked the said amount, what we need now is for Congress to pass a law amending the CARP law," Bunye added.

Thousands of Filipinos victimized by the Marcos regime have lost a major legal battle in their quest to be compensated and to recover a $2 billion jury verdict to settle human rights abuses.

A United States appeals court ruled that the 9,500 plaintiffs, most of them in the Philippines, can’t recover $683 million in Marcos assets that were transferred from a Swiss account to the Philippine government, which claims ownership of the money.

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