The chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations said Wednesday the Senate led by Senate President Vicente Sotto III made adjustments to the proposed 2019 General Appropriations Bill after the ratification of the bicameral report.
The senators also increased by P83.9 billion the allocation for their pet programs and projects under various departments and agencies.
“These adjustments were submitted to the House appropriations committee by the members of the Senate’s Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office beginning February 11, or three days after Congress ratified the 2019 budget on February 8. The Senate adjustments were submitted piece-meal until March 8, 2019,” Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said in a statement.
He made the statement even as Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Thursday President Rodrigo Duterte had no choice but to veto the P75-billion “pork insertions” made by congressmen in the P3.8-trillion national budget for 2019.
The insertions by House members were done after the ratification of the bicameral conference committee report.
“The President has no choice but to veto the questionable items in the budget, particularly the P75 billion worth of pork barrel funds, which was illegally inserted into the budget after both houses ratified the bicameral conference report," Drilon said.
Andaya said the biggest increase, totaling P26 billion, was realigned to the Department of Public Works and Highways to finance infrastructure projects that were also itemized by the Senate.
Next was the Department of Health, which was given additional allocation of P17 billion. Of this amount, P10 billion was earmarked for the Health Enhancement Program and P1 billion for the Malasakit Centers, Andaya said. With Macon Ramos-Araneta
The other institutions that received major portions of the Senate’s budget increase included the following:
* Senate 1.7 billion;
* Office of the Vice President 215 million;
* Department of Agriculture 597 million;
* Department of Education P2.5 billion;
* Department of Energy 110 million;
* State Universities and Colleges 2.5 billion;
* Department of Environment and Natural Resources 289 million;
* Department of Information and Communication Technology 2 billion;
* Department of Interior and Local Government 1.2 billion;
* Department of Justice 1.3 million;
* Department of Labor 2.1 million; and
* Assistance to Local Government Units 997 million
“The submission of these adjustments are fully documented. The House has copies of videotapes from our CCTV cameras showing the entry and exit of LBMRO staff during the submission of the Senate realignments from Feb. 11 to March 8, 2019,” Andaya said.
Should Sotto and other senators wish to get a copy of these videotapes, Andaya said, “we can send them to the Senate anytime.”
He advised Sotto and the other senators to look closely into the budget books prepared by their chamber and consult once again with their technical staff who helped the Senate craft the final inputs to the 2019 General Appropriations Bill.
“The figures I had cited with regard to the national budget are printed in the enrolled copy of the 2019 GAB, which was transmitted for signature of President Duterte,” Andaya said.
“These figures are official records and beyond reproach. To brand them as fake is an insult to both Congress and the people who worked in the preparation of the bill.”
Andaya said the “piece-meal explanation on the budget cuts imposed by the Senate and click-bait statements from senators were no longer acceptable. These will only confuse, rather than educate, the public on the budget authorization process.”
He said the senators could not hide the fact that they unilaterally reduced by more than P75 billion the 2019 budget allocated to the President’s major infrastructure projects and vital social programs. These cuts would also affect the benefits due to government workers, including pension and retirement benefits of retired uniformed personnel. With Macon Ramos-Araneta