Congress vows no delay
Budget kisses off pork
The Palace is banking on administration allies in both chambers of Congress to prevent the 2020 budget from being caught in a costly impasse as what happened to this year’s appropriations bill which was signed in April after an acrimonious battle over pork barrel.
The conflict involved leaders of the House against Cabinet men and members of the Senate that dragged on for months and resulted in a growth slowdown.
Speaker Alan Cayetano said there are neither parked nor pork barrel funds in the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget, thus, removing possible sources of friction.
Cayetano made the assurance after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Acting Secretary Wendel Avisado submitted the National Expenditure Program (NEP) which
contained details of the proposed General Appropriations Act to the House of Representatives.
The NEP was also received by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Finance Committee Chairman Juan Edgardo Angara and Sen. Panfilo Lacson in the other chamber.
Sotto committed that the Senate will keep the budget “pork-free.”
Optimism high
With the assurances of leaders in the legislature, Malacañang expressed high optimism that the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget will breeze through and obtain Congress’ approval as scheduled.
The figure for next year is 12 percent higher than the P3.662 trillion 2019 budget, according to the DBM.
In a Palace briefing, the President’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said no “major roadblocks” are expected.
“Actually, we do not have any guarantee. That depends on the members of Congress because they are the ones who deliberate on the budget. We can always hope that it will pass in time because any delay will again affect our economy. I’m sure the members of Congress know that,” Panelo indicated.
To recall, President Rodrigo Duterte’s signing of the General Appropriations Act for 2019 was delayed for several months because of the back-and-forth hurling of “pork barrel” insertions and allegations between the upper and lower houses.
Education still tops
“Well, we’re always hopeful whether Congress is dominated by allies of the President or not because after all, as we said repeatedly, members of Congress should know exactly what is good for the Filipino people being representatives of them,” stated the official.
A big chunk of the 2020 National Expenditure Program (NEP), roughly 37 percent, was appropriated for social services (P1.525 trillion), 28.9 percent for economic services (P1.184 trillion), 18 percent for general public services (P734.5 billion), 11 percent for debt burden (P451 billion) and 4.8 percent for defense (P195.6 billion).
The Department of Education would still be given the biggest piece of the pie with a proposed P673 billion budget in accordance with the Constitution’s mandate for the government to allocate the highest budgetary priority to education.
Equitable allocation
Cayetano said pork barrel “is a thing of the past.”
He added that the executive through the department secretaries made sure that the proposed budget is “equitable,” and that each area in the whole country will have “development funds,” thus there is no need for congressmen to get allocations.
“There is no need because the budget of the president is equitable,” Cayetano stressed.
He also vowed there will be no district that will receive less than P400 million in infrastructure funds.
“What I meant with equitable distribution, when we talked with (Department of Public Works and Highways) Secretary Mark Villar, he promised to allot not less than P400 million to P500 million in infrastructure funds for as long as it falls under the national priority program such as roads, bridges, flood control,” Cayetano said.
These allocations, which were proposed by department secretaries with district engineers, regional directors, local government officials and congress representatives were already included in the proposed budget.
SC ruling as guide
House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said the House will comply with the Supreme Court ruling that outlawed any form of pork barrel.
“Line-item budgeting system will be strictly observed to ensure transparency and accountability in the disbursement of public funds,” Romualdez said.
Parked funds in the 2020 budget will also be removed, according to Cayetano. Such funds are lump sums without a specific item in the budget and are not for use by the identified congressional district but will later be transferred to favored lawmakers.
Disagreements on parked funds and insertions in the 2019 budget were key reasons for the delay of the budget this year.
Cayetano stressed that having parked funds is a form of corruption. “The agreement in Congress is that we will fight corruption and there will be no coverups.”
More flexible
Cayetano said the House will be “more flexible” so that the budget will be passed on time.
The appropriations panel, chaired by Davao Rep. Isidro Ungab will conduct four hearings every day, starting Thursday, 22 August for the bill.
There are also scheduled hearings on Thursdays and Fridays, according to Cayetano who earlier said the House of Representatives will pass the 2020 budget on third reading before its October break.
The minority group shares the majority’s desire for a speedy budget deliberation, Minority Leader Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. said, as he added that efforts would be made to discourage members of the House from “showing off.”
“Like our colleagues in the Majority, we are ready to work overtime if necessary to ensure that the national budget is passed on time.”
“We all recognize the importance of finishing the budget deliberations in a timely manner, and acknowledge that cooperation is needed from both sides of the aisle to accomplish this,” Abante said.
There are neither parked nor pork barrel funds in the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget.