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Duterte will never allow dubious items in budget

By Azer Parrocha

December 14, 2020, 7:09 pm

<p>President Rodrigo Roa Duterte <em>(File photo)</em></p>

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (File photo)

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte’s track record shows that he never allowed “dubious items” in the government’s national budgets and never will, Malacañang said Monday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark after Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson warned of “dubious items” in the proposed 2021 national budget, particularly the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Roque, however, assured that Duterte will thoroughly review the proposed budget and veto unconstitutional provisions if necessary.

“Mayroon na pong proven track record ang Presidente na hindi naman siya sasang-ayon sa mga kababalaghan na pupuwedeng gawin sa budget dahil noong minsan eh vineto na niya lahat mga questionable na mga items sa budget (The President has a proven track record where he never agreed to any anomalies that could be made to the budget because before he even vetoed questionable items in the budget). So, I think Senator Lacson can be confident na hindi lulusot iyan sa ating Presidente (those dubious items won’t slip past the President),” he said in a Palace press briefing.

He also lamented that the Palace has yet to receive the proposed budget from Congress.

If the proposed budget would be transmitted late, he said Palace officials might have to spend the rest of the holidays reviewing the budget.

“Eh, iyon na nga po ang kaba ko, mukhang wala kaming Pasko dahil hindi pa nga namin nari-receive ang budget. Busisiin pa iyan, eh baka habang lahat ay nagdidiwang kami dito sa Palasyo eh nagbubusisi ng national budget (That’s what I’m worried about, it looks like we won’t have Christmas because we haven’t received the budget yet. It still has to be reviewed, maybe while everyone is celebrating, us in the Palace would be reviewing the national budget),” he said.

Meanwhile, he expressed hope that Congress would finally transmit the proposed budget this week.

Roque said the country could not afford to have another reenacted budget, especially amid the prevailing pandemic.

The national government had to utilize a reenacted 2018 budget from January to mid-April last year due to the delayed passage of the 2019 budget.

Last Friday, Lacson urged Malacañang to review questionable items in the DPWH appropriations when it reviews the proposed budget.

He said he was willing to help identify tens of billions of pesos worth of overlapping appropriations in the Congress-approved budget measure that must be vetoed by the President.

“It is clear that questionable items such as double and overlapping appropriations should be vetoed, along with at least 793 line items for multipurpose buildings with a uniform PHP1million appropriation each,” he said.

Lacson said the bicameral report showed that PHP83.87 billion of DPWH infrastructure projects migrated to new areas while appropriations worth PHP55.52 billion disappeared.

He also said the budgets of other departments were cut by PHP28.35 billion. (PNA)


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