Palace to Lacson: Point out ‘parked’ GAA items

MANILA,Philippines — President Duterte is ready to remove the vague allocations in next year’s budget, Malacañang said yesterday, after Sen. Panfilo Lacson revealed that about P20 billion worth of items in the spending bill did not clearly state where the funds would go.?Some of the unclear allocations, Lacson claimed, are “parked” in the budgets of the public works and interior and local government departments. The senator said the items could not be considered.   

“Tell Senator Lacson to point out what specific item in the GAA (General Appropriations Act) the P20 (billion) has been ‘parked’ and the President will remove it,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement. ?

Leaders of the House of Representatives, meanwhile, thanked and commended Lacson yesterday for having declared that based on his objective assessment, the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 is so far “pork-free.” 

“Under the guidance of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, the final version of the 2020 GAB (General Appropriations Bill) approved by the House is in sync with the inclusive growth agenda of President Duterte,” Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. said. 

“The institutional amendments were all done to ensure funding support to the sectors that need them the most,” the Camarines Sur congressman said, adding that the credit goes to the House leadership that passed the spending bill in record time. 

“This is a tribute to the transformative leadership of Speaker Cayetano who made sure that the proposed budget bill was passed in a highly transparent manner and bereft of pork, illegal insertions and ‘parking’ of funds,’” Villafuerte stressed. 

Lacson observed though that he found only P9.5 billion in the House’s institutional amendments. 

Villafuerte nonetheless called on the Senate to work together with the House in allocating higher funding for agriculture, health, education and infrastructure under the 2020 national budget.          

The House yesterday extended the validity of two important appropriation measures in the 2019 national budget to Dec. 31, 2020.

The extension is contained in Joint Resolution No. 19, which the House approved on third and final reading. If approved by the Senate and signed by President Duterte, the resolution would have the effect of a law.

Congressmen also adopted the Senate version of a bill postponing the May 2020 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections for the third time to May 2023.

Under Joint Resolution No. 19, hundreds of billions in appropriations for capital outlay (CO), mostly for infrastructure projects, and maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) can be used up to the end of next year.

CO and MOOE are two of the three major parts of the national budget. The third is personnel services (PS), the budget language for salaries.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said the delay in the enactment of the 2019 budget prompted the extension of the availability of CO and MOOE appropriations.

He said though Duterte signed the spending bill in April, the delay was actually five months to six months due to the fund release, disbursement and obligation processes.

The committee on appropriations chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab endorsed the extension of CO and MOOE funds.

Ungab said aside from the budget enactment delay, there was also the construction ban related to last May’s elections. He said the extension would give agencies more time to implement projects.

In postponing the barangay and SK elections, congressmen said the nation just had a national vote in May and could not afford two balloting exercises in two years.

The term office of incumbents would be extended by the Department of the Interior and Local Government. – With Delon Porcalla