OPPOSITION FUNDS GO TO SOLDIERS’ PAY HIKE

Funds for free college tuition program also taken from slashed opposition budget.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez yesterday said the budget for proposed projects of opposition lawmakers was realigned to finance college tuition in state schools and the salary increase of soldiers and policemen.

“As much as possible, once funding for a project has been approved, then it is good to go. But in extraordinary cases we have to re-allocate funds for other priorities, such as education and the welfare of policemen and soldiers. This is what happened in the 2018 budget,” he added.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman earlier alleged that projects proposed by the opposition were approved on third reading by the House of Representatives, but were deleted during the bicameral conference on the 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA) on instructions of Alvarez.

The lawmakers have yet to clarify the budget cut as they have yet to see the final copy of the GAA signed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Lagman said the House lead- ership and the appropriations committee had advised lawmakers to propose infrastructure projects worth P50 million, with an additional P20-million allocation later, for inclusion in the “Build, Build and Build” program under the 2018 national budget.

In a statement, Alvarez questioned the Makabayan bloc in the House on the source of funds that they used to implement projects in their respective districts, considering they have not had budget allocations. The Makabayan bloc includes representatives of Anakpawis, Bayan Muna, Gabriela, ACT Teachers and Kabataan have not accessed funds from the government.

“In the first place, the socalled Makabayan bloc consisting of party-list groups identified with the mainstream Left has not accessed funds from Congress at all,” Alvarez said.

“We do not know where they get funds for projects for their constituents. All we know is that the communist rebels with whom they have an ideologi- cal and political affinity impose what’s known as ‘revolutionary taxation’ in areas where they operate,” he added.

partment of Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno has denied that the Duterte government has refused to allocate a budget to the opposition lawmakers.

He, however, admitted allocating a “lesser” budget for the opposition projects and “more” for the allies of the opposition.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr., meanwhile, said the executive department did not have a hand in this matter.

He said the Palace respects the separation of powers of each government branch.

“We had nothing to do with whatever decision both houses of Congress had on the alleged deprivation of projects, as far as opposition congressmen are concerned. That’s something that should be addressed to the leadership of both houses of Congress,” he added.