Abaya takes over DOTC in mid-October

MANILA, Philippines - Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya will assume his new job as secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in mid-October.

“I will await the final approval by the House of the proposed P2-trillion 2013 national budget,” he told reporters yesterday.

By his own estimate, Abaya said the House of Representatives should be able to approve the proposed budget on third and final reading by Oct. 15.

Meanwhile, he is receiving briefings from DOTC officials on his new job, he added.

Responding to questions, Abaya said he would continue with the policy of outgoing Secretary Manuel Roxas II to decongest ports in Manila.

“We have to use the expanded ports in Subic and Batangas, for which the government spent P16 billion during the previous administration,” he said.

Abaya said trucks moving cargo out of ports in Manila contribute immensely to daily traffic jams.

Private port operators in Manila’s south and north harbors would no longer be allowed to expand their operations, he added.

Abaya chairs the House appropriations committee, which scrutinizes and determines the shape of the annual budget.

Lawmakers were set to approve the 2013 outlay last night before going on a two-week recess this weekend.

The budget will be printed during the break and scheduled for a final vote when Congress resumes session on Oct. 8.

After the final vote, the spending proposal will be sent to the Senate.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has assured President Aquino and the nation that like last year, the House and the Senate would be able to approve next year’s budget before the end of the year.

Approval of the spending bill before yearend would enable the administration to release funds early next year, he added.

Early fund releases would allow the country to sustain the modest economic growth achieved this year, Belmonte said.

On Wednesday, the Commission on Appointments confirmed Abaya and Roxas, who is taking over the job of the late Jesse Robredo as secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.