Senate to pass P4.1 trillion national budget this week

Manila, Phillipines — The Senate aims to pass the P4.1-trillion budget program or the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2020 this week with major cuts expected in the budgets of key agencies due to poor spending performance.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the chamber expects to pass the proposed national budget for next year on second reading, and third and final reading by Wednesday after his colleagues have finished making amendments to the GAB, which the House of Representatives approved and submitted last September.

“Speaker Alan (Peter Cayetano) and (House) Majority Leader Martin (Romualdez) are OK to talk with so I don’t see anything that we cannot agree on,” Sotto told dwIZ when asked how he sees the proceedings in the bicameral conference committee.

The bicameral committee – composed of select senators and congressmen – will reconcile conflicting provision of their respective versions of the GAB.

He said he does not expect a deadlock in the bicameral body and he is ready to intervene in case delegates from both sides hit contentious issues.

Sotto said the amendments would be transparent as the realignments had been discussed on the floor in the last two weeks.

Cayetano earlier said the House may make P100 billion worth of amendments at the bicameral committee.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson earlier this week warned he would closely watch the process of House amendments as it could be an opportunity for some congressmen to insert pork.

Congress is eyeing to have the 2020 GAB enacted and signed into law by President Duterte before lawmakers go on break for the holidays on Dec. 20.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and Lacson earlier warned the chamber would cut the proposed budgets of several agencies – including the departments of Education (DepEd), Public Works and Highways, and Transportation (DOTr) – with average disbursement rate of less than 40 percent.

This week, Lacson moved to restore a special provision in the GAB that mandates the DOTr to ensure that it settles its right-of-way (ROW) obligations. The DOTr had the provision removed in the 2020 GAB.

He reminded the DOTr to settle ROW issues before it starts implementing projects. He noted the DOTr’s disbursement rate or spending record for its 2017 budget was low at 39.2 percent and 40.7 percent in 2018. For 2019, it is 39.7 percent.

“If you fail to settle ROW issues, you cannot start your project, the obligation rate goes down and of course, (fund) utilization rate,” Lacson said.

“You settle (ROW) before the commencement of project. I understand if it’s 500-kilometer stretch, (ROW) it will delay the whole project. But it should be consistent with provision of ROW law. If the provision is removed, we are in effect openly violating the ROW law,” he said.

Recto also scored the DOTr for its poor spending record despite asking for more and more funds every year.

Senators earlier said they would probe the DOTr’s Metro Manila subway project, the cost of which was reportedly bloated by at least P150 billion, and its route and specifications suspiciously altered. Its route, if approved, would be twice traversing a major earthquake fault and flood prone areas, and plow through thousands of private residences.