usiness Insght
Monday, March 11, 2019
Ping: Re-enacted budget seen until August
BY RAYMOND AFRIGA
GO\GRNMENT will tun on a re-enacted
budget possibly until August this year if
tle House of Reptesentatives cofltinues to
insist on including its amendments to the
already ratified P3.757 trillion national bud-
get for 2019, Sen. Panfilo Lacson warned
on Sunday.
In an inrerview over radio DZBB, Lacson
reiterated Senate President Vicente Soco
III will not sign the enrolled budger bill if
this does oor reflecr the version approved
by t-he bicameral conference commitree
last February 8.
Lacson said tlat if the House petsists on
iocluding the line-item amendnients it made
on the bicameul-approved 2019. national
PING
sions to veto. And we will respect
the ptesidential vetd' he said.
"Ano ba ang ikioatatakot ng
mga senadot sa itemized budget?
As far as the House is concetned,
we have all the records to sub-
stantiate our stand and the legal
basis, as well as the established
tradirions aod practices to back
us up," he added.
A-ndaya said senatots should not
hold hostage the 2019 budget bill
if they ate ooly concetoed about
a small portioa of the annual ap
propriation.
'1f the contested appropriations
represent 2 percent of the national
budget, then ivhy should it jeopar-
dize t}Ie uncontested 98 percent?
\Vhy hostage the nationa.l budget
over unfounded and unteasonable
fear?"he said.
He said the House will print
the 2019 GAA so that the public
w<iuld know where the projects
and programs of dre govetnment
this yeat would go.
HOUSEAMENDMENTS
The Senate Legtslative Budget
, Reseatch and Monitoring Office
(LBRMO), in a mee ting with sena-
tors last Saturday, bared the House
made amendments not only on
budget, the Senate can'opt to wait until
the l8s Congress when a new Speaker is
elected and a nev chairman of t}le House
committee on appropriatitrns is named.
Speaker Gloria Arroyo is ofi her last term
as representative of the second district of
Pampanga while Rep. Rolando Andaya,
the reptesentative of tlle fust district of
Camarines Sur, is also a "graduating:'
congtessman,
Lacson said rhe Senare \vill mainLain its
stance on the budget as he does not see
a change in their leadership for the 18th
Congress,
'Ve are preparing for that because vhile
Speaker Arroyo is still *rere and they wilJ
stand 6rm on their amendmenrs to t}te
ratified proposed national budget, Senate
the budget of the Dgpartmeat
Health, but also.on the budget of
of
the Depatmrent of Public Works
and Highways as well,
LBRMO saff reported to Lac-
son, Sottq Senate minority leader
Franklin Drilon, and-Senatorl-o
ren Legarda, finance committee
chair, that the House realigned
P95 billion budget of the DPWH
major 6nal output O4FO), with
sorne P72 billion of it parked at
the budget of the DP\0H Central
Of6ce.
Lacson said only more thao P20
billion were retained to the disttict
engineering offices.
Lacson said the P95 billion al-
locatioos were for several district
engineering offices rrhich have
already been allocated appropria-
tions for speciEc projects.
He said instead of sticking
.i/ith the DPWH budget, the
House took the cudgels of iden-
tifying a project wheo it should
have been the tole of the imple-
menting agencS in this case the
DPITH.
Also based on the LBRMO
report, Lacson said an additional
P2.1 billion was given to Arroyoh
congressional disttict, which has
already been allocated P2.4 bilion.
The total allocatiol for the second
distict of Pampanga now stands
at P4.5 billion.
r Teo6, F{qe,,
President Sotto vill not srgn anything and
tlete will be no enrolled bill," Lacson said.
Andaya said seoatots can pinpoint to
Ptesident Duterte wharitems *rey rhink he
should vero in the proposed 201i General
Approptiations Acg even as he maintained
there was no*ringillegal in dre House move
to itemize lump sum funds in tle proposed
budget measure.
Andaya insisted the amendments were
'\rithin the parameters" of the bicamesl
vets10!1.
'1f the senators teally feel that the budget
we have ratiFed is constitutionally-infirm
and legally-ffawed, then *rey can tell the
Presidenrwhar speci6c ponions and provi-
PNG )
See Page 86
Lacson said the LBR-NIO has
no details of the additional P2.1
billion tunding.
Duting the meeting, Lacson
said they also consulted widr Fi-
nance Sec. Carlos Domloguez via
teleconference on the impact to
the country's economy of haviag
a te-enacted budget at least until
August.
Lacson said Dominguez told
senators a re-enacted budget will
lesult to an estimated 1,5 percent
decrease in dre countrfs gtoss do-
mestic product or which translates
to a daily economic loss of around
P500 million.
He said, though, that govern-
ment can cope with t}le losses by
releasing a supplemental budget.
"We are also considering that.
But the bottom lind is Senate.
President Sotto will not sign if
that will put him in a bad light. Be-
cause if Sotto and Speaker Arroyo
sign that, that will certify *rat the
proposed budget underwent *re
right legislative process, that means
whatever both houses agreed upon
during the bicametal conference
committee, that will be one which
is supposed to be signed. But they
tinkered with it. That will open
them to falsiEcation of the tecords
of the legislative ptocess which
is punishable undet the Revised
Penal Code," he added.