MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang yesterday urged Congress to pass next year’s proposed P4.1-trillion budget on time to prevent a reenacted spending program that could slow economic growth and hamper the delivery of government services.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the government’s constitutional mandate to serve the Filipino people must prevail over “partisan considerations” and “constant differences or varying interpretations on the budget.”
Such differences should not hamper government operations, he added.
“In certifying to urgency of the budget bill, (President Duterte) wants to convey to the members of Congress the importance of passing the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on time to avoid a repeat of a reenacted budget that wreaked havoc on the economic program of this administration, affected the timely delivery of basic services to the people and, ultimately, slowed our growth during the first quarter of this year,”
Panelo said in a statement.
Duterte certified as urgent the proposed 2020 budget last Sept. 17 to ensure that the spending bill would be passed and signed into law this year.
The certification exempts the budget from the rule that a bill can only be passed on final reading three days after its approval on second reading.
The House of Representatives vowed to pass today on third and final reading the P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 after President Duterte certified the budget bill as urgent.
“Since GAB is 100 percent NEP (National Expenditure Plan), the President certified it as urgent. So, we can approve budget on third and final reading,” said Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chairman of the House ways and means committee.
The Senate is on track in hearing the budget of various departments and government agencies for the 2020 proposed national budget, Sen. Sonny Angara said yesterday.
“We are on track, I think the House is going to approve it within this week or next week. Will take a week to send it to us,” said Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on finance.
“And then before we go on break, I will ask the vice chairs to finish their hearing and to submit their reports so we can incorporate them in the committee reports. So we’re on track for the passage of the budget,” he said.
Angara said the President’s certification of the budget bill as urgent will be helpful in the passage of the 2020 proposed national budget.
Under the Constitution, the government has to operate on a reenacted budget if Congress fails to pass a new spending bill.
The reenacted budget shall remain in force until Congress approves a new GAB.
Presidential Legislative Liaison Office chief Adelino Sitoy has said Duterte had certified next year’s budget as urgent because the administration has “learned lessons from last year.”
The government operated on a reenacted budget in the first quarter as the passage of this year’s P3.757-trillion budget was stalled by a deadlock over last-minute insertions in the spending bill.
Economic managers have blamed the delayed enactment of the 2019 budget for the slower than expected economic growth in the first quarter.
The Philippines’ economic growth slowed to 5.6 percent in the first three months, slower than the 6.5 percent growth recorded in the same period last year and the revised 6.3 percent growth in the fourth quarter of the same year.
The reenacted budget caused underspending of about P1 billion per day, which in turn stifled economic activity, officials said.
While Duterte wants the timely passage of the budget, Panelo said the President would not allow illegal items like pork barrel in the spending bill.
In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that congressional allocations known as pork barrel are unconstitutional because it violated the separation of powers by allowing lawmakers to wield non-oversight, post-enactment authority in vital areas of budget executions.
“The President will decide whether it’s pork or not. He will veto it if it’s against the Constitution,” he said.
House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez assured the taxpayers that the 2020 budget will be passed and will reflect not only the President’s vision, but also the people’s will.
The measure contains the government’s proposed budget for next year – from the executive, legislative to the judiciary and independent constitutional bodies.
“As envisioned by the President, the 2020 national budget seeks to move the nation forward towards its aspired-for destination: a more peaceful and progressive Philippines,” Romualdez said.
In a related development, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has set aside a total of P1.2 billion in next year’s budget for purposes of the Duterte administration’s establishment of free internet WiFi hotspots across the country.
“The amount is on top of the P1.2 billion earmarked this year to build additional access points where Filipinos may freely connect to the internet via their mobile devices,” Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said.
The DICT reported to Congress that the agency has installed since April “password-free WiFi hotspots” in 2,330 sites covering all 17 regions across 73 provinces in over 640 municipalities and cities nationwide.
He said the fresh funding for the Free Internet WiFi Connectivity in Public Places Project is lodged in the DICT budget in the proposed P4.1-trillion General Appropriations Act for 2020.
Budget cuts
Sen. Risa Hontiveros said she would push for the restoration of billions of pesos slashed from the proposed 2020 budget of the Department of Health (DOH) to boost efforts against the dengue and measles outbreaks and ensure the effective implementation of the Universal Health Care act.
“I urge my colleagues in the Senate to support a larger budgetary allocation to health services. Every peso added to health services and programs may literally spell the difference between life and death for our constituents,” Hontiveros said.
With the Senate committee on finance now scrutinizing the DOH budget for next year, Hontiveros said that the Department of Budget and Management and the DOH should explain why the DOH is set to receive only P160.15 billion or five percent lower than this year’s allocation of P169.45 billion. who cannot afford legal services or who deserve free legal assistance.– With Delon Porcalla, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jess Diaz