Senate OKs 2018 nat’l budget; R69-B ‘pork barrel’ deleted
The Senate approved on third and final reading Wednesday night the proposed 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which would give the Duterte government a R3.767-trillion budget for its programs and operations.
All 16 senators present in Wednesday's session voted unanimously to pass the budget.
Sen. Loren Legarda, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Finance who shepherded the passage of
a House bill containing GAA at the Senate floor, described the proposed budget as a “compassionate budget that addresses the needs of the people.” She expects President Duterte to sign the proposed budget into law on December 19.
The GAA consists of R2.78 trillion in programmed funds, R2.27 billion for various departments, R508.8 billion in special purpose funds, and R75.3 billion in unprogrammed funds.
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson was able to delete R69 billion in supposed “pork barrel” appropriations, mostly in the local government level.
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri did not harbor any ill feelings at the deletion of public works projects in his home province of Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro City, the home city of Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, because they could be restored once the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional director is able to explain the necessity and the urgency of these projects.
Pimentel assigned Legarda as chairperson of the Senate Bicameral Conference Committee, which will meet with their House counterpart today. Legarda’s members are Senators Ralph G. Recto, Franklin M. Drilon, Cynthia A. Villar, Juan Edgardo Angara, Panfilo Lacson, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Nancy Binay, and Zubiri.
Legarda said the Senate gave R64 billion to the Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) as additional pay; appropriated R80 billion for the protection of the needy through the conditional cash transfer (CCT) supervised by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) plus capital outlay of DSWD’s centers, and provided R3 billion for juvenile centers
She also said the Upper Chamber allocated sizeable capital outlay funds for regional jails as the National Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City needs immediate decongestion.
For social education, Legarda explained, that the Senate gave a R51billion fund while the Lower House gave R20 billion. But both Houses still need R11 billion more not only for State University Colleges (SUCs) but also for local government-owned colleges and technical education institutions and allowances for students.
Legarda said the current R5-billion rehabilitation fund for war-devastated Marawi City would be given another R10 billion next year in the 2018 fiscal budget. The Marawi war lasted for five months.
She said that the R900-million intelligence funds intended for the war of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on illegal drugs (Oplan Double Barrel) would now be channeled to the housing needs of policemen and soldiers.
Legarda also said the Senate gave sufficient intelligence and confidential funds for the country’s external defenses, including the Benham Rise east of Aurora province.
She expressed hopes that the Duterte administration would spend for its ambitious infrastructure program the taxes collected, particularly from its Tax Reform bill.
Like Lacson, Sen. Risa Hontiveros was successful in having her amendments accepted. These amendments would help law enforcement agencies respect human rights of citizens and no more “tokhang” drop boxes.
She was also able to force the Legarda committee to include a provision calling for the audit of foreign loans contracted or to be contracted by the national government, particularly the country’s loans from China.