REENACTED BUDGET LOOMS, SAYS SPEAKER

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez yesterday said the House of Representatives is taking a hardline stance on its version of the proposed 2018 national budget, raising the possibility of a reenacted budget.

The bicameral conference committee on Thursday created two small groups to discuss and resolve the contentious provisions of the House and Senate versions of the bill.

“Kami sa House of Representatives, napag-usapan namin na mag-hard stance kami dito, dahil kung ano yung napag-usapan namin, at inaprubahan doon sa House of Representatives, yun ay ang gusto naming mangyari (We in the House have agreed to take a hardline stance. We will stick with whatever we approved),” Alvarez said in a radio interview.

Alvarez raised the possibility of a reenacted budget for next year if both House and Senate panels cannot reconcile the contrasting provisions before Congress goes into Christmas recess on December 13.

“Ngayon, kung hindi kami magkasundo doon, ay magre- enact na lang tayo ng budget noong nakaraan. Tabla-tabla na lang (If we can’t agree, then we will just reenact the budget),” Alvarez said.

The proposed P50-billion cut in the 2018 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for rightof-way (ROW) acquisitions was met with dissent from both senators and congressmen.

Senator Panfilo Lacson has pushed for the P50.7-billion cut in the DPWH budget due to unresolved ROW issues, which he said was the “main culprit” for the huge underspending of the agency.

Also met with opposition is Senate’s realignment of the P900-million allocation for Oplan Double Barrel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to the housing projects for the police and military.

Alvarez said the House has conducted a thorough deliberation of the budget and they are not just about to relent to the demands of some senators.

House appropriations committee chair Karlo Nograles said the Senate and House have until December 13 to ratify the 2018 budget in order to meet the December 19 deadline for President Rodrigo Duterte to sign the measure into law.

“Ideally, we have to ratify this before Congress goes into a break on December 13. So, ideally by December 12, ratified na ito by both Houses of Congress. That way, (by) December 19, as scheduled, pirmado na ni President Duterte ito,” Nograles said.

The Senate approved on final reading the proposed 2018 national budget last Wednesday, while the House passed its own version last September.