The House of Representatives allayed fears of a re-enacted budget in 2019 as it approved last night third and final reading the proposed P3.757 trillion national budget for 2019.
Voting 196 in favor and 8 against, the Lower House passed the funding measure as senators started pummeling the chamber with accusations that the delay in approval is being allegedly caused by congressional insertions.
Majority Leader and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya said the proposed General Appropriations Act is transparent and well-itemized.
Approval came over a month after the House leadership discovered some P52 billion “parked pork barrel” insertions. The amount was quickly re-aligned to anti-poor and public health programs of the Duterte government.
The alleged “pork barrel” were re-aligned in the following programs: P5 billion as additional National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund for the rehabilitation of areas badly hit by typhoon Ompong, especially Cagayan Valley; P3 billion for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) of the Department of Health (DoH) which was reduced at P50 million; P3 billion for the DoH’s Health Human
Resources Development “to stave off the mass layoff of 6,000 nurses, and doctors and dentists as well”; P1.2 billion for the Capital Outlay of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs); P3 billion for Technical-Vocational Laboratories under the Department of Education; P11 billion for roads to decongest traffic in urban areas; P10 billion for roads for identified tourism areas; another P10 billion for roads to trade areas, economic zones, livelihood centers and markets; and P5 billion for the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) farm-to-market roads (FMRs).
“There will be no more delays. Just to allay the fears that we will have reenacted (budget) or we’re stalling. There’s nothing like that,” Andaya stated in a press conference.
He explained that the delay in the third reading approval was caused by the fact that “we were swamped by a very unusual number of requests coming from the Executive, even coming from the President himself.”
Earlier, Rep. Ma. Carmen Zamora (PDP-Laban, Compostella Valley), acting chairperson of the appropriations committee, said the House was eyeing to approve the budget on third and final reading on November 28, but Andaya said this was just the “worst case scenario.”
The 2019 allocation puts P659.3 billion for the education sector with P528.8 billion will be allocated to DepEd; P65.2 billion will go to State Colleges and Universities; P50.5 billion to Commission on Higher Education; and P14.8 billion to Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
The Department of Public Works and Highways will receive the second highest allocation with P555.7 billion, which represents an increase of 25.8 percent or P113.9 billion compared to its P441.8 billion budget in 2018.
On the other hand, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will receive the third largest appropriation in 2019 with P225.6 billion. This is 30.9 percent or P53.2 billion than its 2018 funding of P172.4 billion. (Ben Rosario)
