2020 budget under strict Duterte scrutiny

President Rodrigo Duterte will veto insertions deemed unconstitutional in the 2020 national budget.

President Rodrigo Duterte is thoroughly scrutinizing the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget and cannot determine when he will sign it, Malacañang said on Sunday.

“Pinag-aaralan niya (He’s reviewing it),” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a radio interview, referring to the 2020 budget ratified by the Senate and the House of Representatives on 11 December.

To avert another reenacted budget like this year’s which was signed in April, the bicameral conference committee approved on 11 December the final version of the 2020 General Appropriations Act.

The national government was forced to operate under a reenacted 2018 GAA from January to mid-April because of the Senate and House of Representatives’ squabble over supposed insertions and realignments in the P3.757-trillion budget.

The ratification of the proposed 2020 budget met the strict timeline set by the two chambers, despite the supposed last-minute insertions.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, who skipped the signing of the bicameral report, earlier claimed that around 1,253 budget items worth P83.219 billion are being included in the proposed budget as congressmen’s “source” of their list of 742 projects worth P16.342 billion.

Lacson noted that the provinces with the biggest share of the supposed insertions are Albay (P670 million), Cavite (P580 million), Sorsogon (P570 million), Batangas (P502 million), Bulacan (P440 million), Pangasinan (P420 million) and Cebu (P410 million).

On November 2013, the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), otherwise known as pork barrel, a discretionary fund received by lawmakers yearly for their pet projects.

Panelo guaranteed that the President will wield his veto power to get rid of funds inserted in the proposed 2020 GAA once they are determined in violation of the Constitution.

“Gaya nga ng sinasabi, simula’t sapul, basta merong isang batas na panukala sa kanyang lamesa, ito ay sasang-ayunan at pipirmahan niya kung ito ay naaayon sa Saligang Batas (Just like what we’re saying ever since, the President will sign any proposed measure that complies with the Constitution),” said Panelo.

“At anuman ang probisyon na labag dito ay kanyang ibi-veto. ‘Yun ang palagi niyang sinasabi (He will veto any provisions that violate the Constitution. That’s what he always says),” added Panelo. (PNA)