]IIIAI{IIA, PHITIPPII{ES
Senate ripp Up
I
TUESDAY
ta
to now, the l
Senate has
y_et
make public a detailed report on the proponents bo
lleru,actAe
rr)
dt'vr p4ci{ Pa. . e
ri pped forsabotage
Senate lhry are accusing each dher with certain iridgularities or acts in conflict with the
among themselves and that
wil
be factored in the consideration
of the President signing or vetoing certain Foyisions of the budget."
Panelo, n everthel
Constitution. They should resolve it
e
ss,
guaranteed Mr. Duterte vill onlv sign d "legal' 2019 budget whil! expressing hope the proposed 2019 budget would be sigtr€d into law anytime this week
hsmel
nThe
Itesideni muld weigh the claims
budget realignments
National Expenditure Program
of both the Senate and the 2019 budget for infta$rucfure Eouse about insertions and' projects as appropriat€d in the
bitl.
in
:
the
'ttey (the Senate and the Eouse of Bepresentatives) are accusing each other with certain inegularities or acts in conflict with the Constitution. Thev should resolve
it,'
he expressed".
Solomonic solutiotr
'Ihe
fador in
President, I'm sure will aU
(NEP),' House Appropri ations Committee chairnan Bolando Andaya Jr. ssid. Andaya emphajized that the House
ha.s
suggested
anetdments
in the nationai budget, which increases allocations for
Foj€cts
without touching the
Department of Public Works and Highways' (DPWE) RoW and p2.6 billion for DPI{II foreign-assisted
"Depriving the government
with funds for right-of-way and other infrastructure,
projectb
will surely hamper
the implementation of the Piesident's 'Build, Build, Build' program- Confuction on priority fojects, itrcluding nass transit and raiIYaJ' systems, will be mostty affected,, the Eouse .. Ieaders pointed
out.
Panelo e&id the presideft
total. muld weigh the claims oi
amotnt thaf ivas pegged in fire
NEP
tllc rtatemeits
made by both ehambers
in going over the budget and then
both the. Senafe and the I0use.tDout insertions Eouse.tbout insertioni- and -'-Thel{ouseeryessed budget realignments, confidence thai
. ;
,
the office of the Also cited were pg billion for President will rebel returnees and outof_school consider its youth's scholarship under the amendments Technical Education Skills and for review Development Authority; p2.2b4 \a-nd look billion for National dieening for ways Program, which they claim to t0 restore have resulted to 50 percent
decide for himself,t
ihe Palace official said-
'Well,
(DoTr) Righi-of-Way (RoW) projects, Pll.03 billion for
fron Serrte
Slashes
House of Represergatives never made a move to reduce the
apFopriations
for Ddparhnent of thansportation's
projects.
pmYisions in a document are illegal or not," he added.
Panelo explained the
They cited anew several
provisions in the 2019 General ApFapriations Bill, which the senators have cut down. Among these were: P5 billion
ag ai n,
that is an internal problem between
e th9
t, h e- s throgqh
then- With relpect to
budget cut for aU PENBO except in Antique; p?.b billion budget presidential for the Southeast Asian Garies
the two houiss, they shouh resolve.tliat,' he added. "They,re raising constitutional issues
veto,
from Department of Foreign Affai$, but p6 billion of which was transferred to the
philippine
Sports Commission.with that the
renaining P2.5 bilion nowhere
to be found;
PlB.4
billion miscellaneous
pe$onnel benefit fund and the P39 billion in pension and gratuity
De8perate bid
Rol-n uolley Presidenriar spokesman
sal panero oettects more tarrications trom .*ii.i.rrni'i ,In'tJJt o irt"no,
adrfilbtration critics such as the;leged chin.i" oort, in lhe Wesl PhiliDDine Sea
,,
Senate President Vicente Sotto
+loAtuU€ fta)str fo
")
III
dismissed the House allegations it a desperate attempt to stop Mr Duterte from veioing and called
their insertions. Sotto maintained Mr. Duterte is well-informed about the budget issue and the stand of tie Senate. the Senate h€sident theodz€d
that Andaya's latest move was meant to pr€rcnttlle hesident from. rcrci.sfu his rcbo porer.
Ee's a lawyer. He will how whether o documert
or certain provisions in a docunefr is illegal or not.
'It's a last-ditch effort
to
obfuscate the issue and try to preyent the President,s veto oI their illegal realignments," he said. "Even their colleagues Imow. Nd o<cuses are necessary because
the President l0ows everlthing,' he added. Sotto was apparendy referring to at least 62 membeN ofthe House who- supposedly informed some senators about the slashing of the budget alocated to their respedive congressional distdcis after ihe ra.tiflcation of the measue.
With reservatiom
the
Senate Presideni signed
the "manipulated" budget with shong reservations over the p?E billion alleged regligunents made by some mernbers ofthe House. In his letter to the president, Sotto attached a list ofthe items
allegedly realigned by some
House leaders and urged the Chief Executive to exercise Ns veto power,
The budget version of the House was already transmitted
to
the Dxecutiye departrnent after Sotto signed
it last
week.
Prior to Sotto,s signing, the Senate wanted the original raffied version to be passed that resulted in more than a month of impasse.
Senators have expressed optimism that ttre hesident will heed their call to veto the p?6 billion.