The Senate yesterday approved on third and final reading the proposed P1.227 trillion General Appropriations Act for 2008.

Meanwhile, the Optical Media Board headed by actor and television host Edu Manzano was given "zero budget" for next year amid the ongoing word war between him and Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.

Following the Senate's approval, the budget bill will go through the bicameral conference committee for deliberations today.

Based on the budget breakdown, the Department of Education is set to get P138 billion; Public Works and Highways, P90.7 billion; National Defense, P50.9 billion; Agriculture, P26.8 billion; Transportation and Communications, P19 billion; Health P16.5 billion; Justice, P10.6 billion; and Foreign Affairs, P10.18 billion.

The budget bill is among the priority measures that President Arroyo wants passed before Congress takes its Christmas break.

The other measures are the cheaper medicines Bill, amendments on the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and the proposed amnesty for communist rebels.

The Manzano-Revilla spat began when the senator, as chairman of the oversight committee for the OMB, went along on an raid last week in Makati City to confiscate pirated copies of DVDs, VCDs and CDs. The raid took place without Manzano.

Revilla alleged that somebody tipped off the vendors. Manzano denied the claim.

Senate President Manuel Villar, meanwhile, said he was the one who recommended a zero-budget for the OMB because the agency has failed to curb the proliferation of software piracy in the country.

Villar said that the OMB's drive against piracy has been ineffective, citing information that the Philippines remain in the global watch list of countries where intellectual property rights are being violated since 2001.

Quiapo in Manila; Panthip Plaza in Bangkok, Thailand; Harco Glodok in Jakarta, Indonesia; and Silk Street Market in Beijing, China were among those listed by the Office of the United States Trade Representative as top 10 software piracy areas in the world.

BELOW AVERAGE?

Villar's proposal could pave the way for the abolition of OMB upon approval by the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Senate chief said he is dismayed with the work of OMB in the past year. He said this is he reason why he has no plans of giving the P25.2 million the agency is asking for in 2008.

He added that OMB has yet to catch the proverbial big fish in the software piracy which continue to kill legitimate business.

Villar said even former senator Franklin Drilon recommended P1 budget for OMB during his time when Manzano failed to appear during the budget hearings.

Manzano sent an OMB intelligence agent to represent him and defend the budget for the agency, Villar said.