President Rodrigo Duterte has extended the availability of this year’s government funds until the last day of 2020 since he has yet to approve the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget.
President Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11464 on Dec. 20 to make appropriations for maintenance and other operating expenses under the 2019 national spending plan available for release until Dec. 31, 2020.
The measure would allow agencies to spend funds for daily operational costs and capital outlays until he signs the proposed 2020 national budget.
A report on these releases and obligations will be submitted to the leaders of the House and the Senate, the House committee on appropriations and the Senate finance committee.
Senator Panfilo Lacson earlier said 1,253 budget items worth P83.219 billion were included in the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Act as “source” of funds for pet projects of some congressmen.
The Palace has assured the public that the Chief Executive would wield his veto power to get rid of any pork insertions in the proposed budget.
The senator said the provinces that received the biggest share of the supposed insertions were Albay (P670 million), Cavite (P580 million), Sorsogon (P570 million), Batangas (P502 million), Bulacan (P440 million), Pangasinan (P420 million), and Cebu (P410 million).
The national government was forced to operate under a reenacted 2018 budget in the first few months this year over supposed insertions in the P3.757-trillion budget for 2019.
The President was only able to sign the budget on April 15.
The delay in the budget’s passage was blamed for the slower growth in gross domestic product for the first two quarters of the year.