Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman on Thursday called for unity between the majority and the minority to restore the cut on the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways made by the Budget department.
“Mr. Chairman, I reiterate my call that the majority and minority should mend their differences for the time being in order to forge a collective decision to support the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways, restore what had been cut and augment its budget when justified,” Lagman told the committee on appropriations during Highways’ 2019 budget hearing.
“The majority and the minority must be united in supporting a realistic budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways in order to make a truism of the oft-repeated invocation that infrastructure is the engine of growth.”
“We must restore the cuts in the DPWH submittal made by DBM. We must not only restore the excised allocations but must augment the DPWH’s budget once found to be justified and imperative.”
Meanwhile, Majority Floor Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. said Thursday the House benefits from many opposition and suffers when there is none.
“The House leadership values the important role of the opposition. They are essential in improving policies. Their inputs are vital in a deliberative and collegial body that is Congress,” Andaya said.
He vowed that the new House leadership would not curtail debate and would encourage the full and reasonable discussion of issues on the floor.
One of the major casualties of the budgetary calisthenics now known as “cash-based budgeting” was Public Works with a slash amounting to P93.343 billion broken down as P90.182 billion for capital outlay and P3.781 billion for maintenance and other operating expenses.
The reduction included a drastic slash on locally funded projects.
After the DBM assured the committee on appropriations that the absorptive capacity of agencies had vastly improved, including the DPWH, in the first six months of 2018 and DBM has approved the employment of more DPWH personnel, there was no justification for the inordinate reduction of the DPWH budget just because the “cash-based budgeting” was prematurely being imposed by DBM.