Duterte on failed traffic promise: Congress did not pass the budget on time
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte said his promise that traffic congestion in Metro Manila would ease by yearend did not prosper due to the delayed passage of the 2019 budget.
“Because Congress did not pass the budget on time...so apektado lahat (everything is affected),” Duterte told CNN Philippines in a Friday evening interview.
“Bibilhin mo 'yan eh (You need to buy). When there is no public spending, your economy will slow down. Kailangan (It’s needed) for you to start to spend so that the private sector will ride on it, may mga negosyo na rin sila (they also have businesses)...then it will start to run again,” Duterte said.
The president in June said that he would work on cutting travel time along EDSA before 2019 ends.
“You don’t have to worry about traffic. Cubao and Makati will be just about five minutes na lang (only),” Duterte said in a June 8 television interview over Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s Sonshine Media Network.
The General Appropriations bill is among the most important pieces of legislation that Congress needs to pass since it authorizes government spending for the succeeding year. Delays in passage of the national budget lead to issues in the funding and implementation of projects.
Passage of the 2019 budget was delayed for months as the House and the Senate wrangled over allocations and alleged pork barrel insertions in the bill.
The president said his promise didn’t incorporate this delay.
“They did not pass it on time so paano mo ako (how would you associate me with that)...”
The P3.7-trillion budget program for 2019 was ratified in February. Fifteen senators voted for the approval of the outlay while five others, including Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan and Panfilo Lacson, voted against it.
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