House swiftly approves OP’s P8.2-billion 2020 budget

MANILA, Philippines — The committee on appropriations of the House of Representatives yesterday endorsed the proposed P8.2-billion budget for next year for President Duterte’s office.

The committee chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab approved the outlay for the Office of the President (OP) in less than five minutes without any question.

At the start of the hearing, Ungab reminded his colleagues that the House traditionally accords the OP courtesy by expeditiously approving its budget.

“We extend the same courtesy to the Office of the Vice President, the judiciary and constitutional commissions, and offices headed by former members of Congress. The President, aside from heading the executive branch, is a former congressman from Davao City,” he said.

Heeding Ungab’s reminder, opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman immediately presented a motion “to terminate the briefing of the OP and to approve its budget.”

However, there was no briefing to terminate because Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, who represented the President’s office, was not asked to make a presentation before the OP funding was endorsed. In fact, he didn’t utter a word.

Before the committee approved the OP budget, Rep. Ferdinand Gaite of leftist party-list group Bayan Muna informed the committee of his intention to ask about putting billions in intelligence and confidential funds at Duterte’s disposal when the House tackles the President’s budget in plenary.

“I would also ask about the chances of resuming peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA),” he said.

The military and the police have accused Bayan Muna and allied groups of serving as front organizations for the CPP-NPA, which the latter have denied. The Bayan Muna-led Makabayan bloc has six representatives in the House.

Medialdea met with Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano after the OP funding was approved.

Budget documents show that Duterte has P2.25 billion in intelligence and confidential funds this year. He is proposing that such funds be increased to P4.5 billion, or by P2.25 billion, next year.

Use of such money is not audited in detail. Critics call the allocation as “spying fund.”

The additional P2.25 billion the President is seeking accounts for the increase in the OP budget from P6.8 billion this year to P8.2 billion next year.

Of the P8.2 billion, P1.1 billion will be for salaries, P6.7 billion for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and P427 million for capital outlay.

The OP has 1,250 authorized positions, of which 818 are filled.

The proposed P4.5-billion intelligence and confidential fund allocation is more than half of OP’s P8.2-billion budget for 2020. It is the bulk of its P6.7-billion MOOE allotment.

The other big operating expenses of the President’s office are P670.7 million for travel, P418.5 million for representation, P239.6 million for supplies and materials, P221.6 million for repairs and maintenance, and P144 million for utilities.

The President’s office will have no money for “financial assistance/subsidy” for 2020. This year, it has P17.2 million for such purpose.

P100 B for rail dev’t

At the budget hearing on Thursday, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it is set to spend P100.6 billion for railway projects in 2020 to boost the country’s transportation system.

At the same hearing, DOTr Undersecretary for railways Timothy John Batan asked the House appropriations panel to approve the proposed budget for construction, rehabilitation and improvement of railway system in the country.

He told lawmakers that the budget for railways represents 98.78 percent of DOTr’s allocation for infrastructure projects and is necessary “to build, renew and upgrade our railways system.”

Batan said the bulk of spending, or P84.8 billion, will be allocated for the North-South Commuter Railway System, the 147-kilometer, 36-station elevated railway project between Calamba, Laguna and New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

This railway will also provide a direct link to Clark International Airport in the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat in Pampanga.

Batan said the budget will also cover the P9.8 billion needed for the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway project, P5 billion for the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 rehabilitation project, P878 million for the South Long-Haul project that will link Metro Manila, Calabarzon and Bicol and cut travel time between Manila and Legazpi City from 13 hours to just six hours, P97 million for the Mindanao Railway project; and P74 million for the LRT Line 1 Cavite extension project.

For the Metro Manila subway, the DOTr official said P4.6 billion would be covered by loan proceeds and P5.2 billion by government counterpart funding.

The initial phase of the subway is being financed in part by a P51.2-billion (104.6 billion yen) loan from the Japanese government.

The DOTr is expected to begin tunneling work on the country’s first underground rapid transit system by the last quarter of this year, the official further revealed.

For the 639-kilometer South Long-Haul Railway, on the other hand, the initial loan agreement for the project was signed in Beijing during the bilateral meeting between President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The Philippine National Railways project is being co-funded by a P175.3-billion loan from the Chinese government.  

Batan explained that the funding requirements for these projects will come from loan agreements with Japan, China and the Asian Development Bank. – With Edu Punay