Duterte underscores fight vs corruption in budget message

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte has underscored his administration’s campaign against corruption and the need to uplift the lives of every Filipino as he called on all government officials and agencies to be judicious in spending taxpayers’ money.

“While I am happy to say that the passage of the 2020 national budget, equivalent to P4.1 trillion, continues the work we have started three and a half years ago – to enable the Filipino people to achieve their dream – it does not mark the end of a journey, but rather the start of a more challenging phase of our voyage for a more peaceful and progressive Philippines,” Duterte said in his budget message released to the media yesterday.

“The year 2020 is a critical juncture for my administration as this marks the second half of my term. We had embarked on a journey of ‘change’ by instituting reforms to address long-standing problems in our government,” the President said.

“Moving forward requires change. We have to continue to improve as a nation and abandon habits and practices that hamper and continue to slow down our progress. With a credible and effective system now firmly set in place, we are confident that in the next three years, we will continue reaping the fruits of our labor.”

To ensure that every peso counts, Duterte placed certain provisions under “conditional implementation.”

In his 11-page message, the President imposed the Filipino-first policy in terms of government procurement to create jobs and spur economic development.

“I admire the ingenuity and creativity of Filipinos in producing high quality products and services, thus, I encourage everyone to patronize and support local producers. I likewise reiterate that government procurement should provide preference to locally produced materials and supplies,” he said.

Duterte added that patronizing our own products means creating jobs and keeping the local industry vibrant.

As regards the release of funds for the rehabilitation of Marawi and other regions affected by recent earthquake and disasters, Duterte directed that the release of the budget be made only after a presidential approval.

He referred to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, Special Provision No. 3, the “Marawi Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program” and Special Provision No. 4, the “Comprehensive Aid to Repair Earthquake Damage (CARED) for Region Xl (Davao Region) and Region XII (Soccsksargen).”

Such will be placed under conditional implementation, wherein the authority to release the funds should have presidential approval, particularly on the specific projects and appropriate implementing agencies or local government unit (LGUs). – With Alexis Romero