Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. on Sunday said 320,000 scholars of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, including drug dependents undergoing rehabilitation and rebel returnees, stand to lose their scholarship due to the Senate’s supposed unilateral action slashing Tesda’s P3-billion budget under the proposed 2019 P3.757-trillion national budget.
He lamented Senate’s move of taking away Tesda’s P3-billion budget.
“[The] P3-billion [funds are intended] for scholarship of rebel returnees, out-of-school youths and rehabilitating drug dependents enrolled under the Universal Access to Tertiary Education. As a result, at least 320,000 students enrolled under the program would lose their scholarship this year,” he said.
The Camarines Sur lawmaker earlier accused the Senate of sabotaging the programs of President Rodrigo Duterte, especially the Build, Build, Build program for cutting down unilaterally P83 billion of the national budget.
He challenged Senate President Vicente Sotto III to explain the budget slash and identify the senators who had pushed for the realignments and where the funds would go.
“All he [Sotto] has to do is explain to the public why the Senate slashed the budget not only of build, build, build projects. Now is also the time for him to reveal the names of all senators who made budget cuts and show the items where these were realigned,” he said.
“We wish to emphasize that the details of these budget cuts were not fully discussed in the bicameral conference committee. The senators unilaterally decided on the budget cuts and realigned them to other items based on request of individual proponents. Up to now, the Senate has yet to make public a detailed report on the proponents who recommended the individual realignments,” he added.
Some of the items allegedly removed from the 2019 national budget by the Senate included, but not limited to, were the Department of Transportation’s P5-billion for right-of-way projects, Department of Public Works and Highways’ P11.033-billion right-of-way projects, and DPWH’s foreign-assisted projects’ P2.5 billion.
According to House Speaker Gloria Arroyo, the President would sign the national budget “very soon,” and that he was just preparing the items to be vetoed in exercise of his power and authority.
“I think it will be signed soon. Every year, the President does line-item vetoes. So they’re just working now I think on what will be the line item vetoes. But there’s already a date for us to go to Malacañang,” she said.
