Senate for quick budget OK

Senators yesterday vowed to expedite the passage of the 2019 proposed national budget as called by Malacañang despite the delays initiated by several congressmen who want a reenacted fund to benefit their reelection bids.

Senator Loren Legarda (PTV Photo) Sen. Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, vowed to have the P3.757-trillion proposed 2019 national budget passed soon.

This even with the still raging word war between key leaders of the House and several members of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet as a result of the debates on the national budget that got stalled last December.

“We resume 14 January. We will pass it soon,” Legarda said.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, meanwhile, said the they will work for the approval of the budget in two weeks.

Zubiri added the senators will immediately tackle the budget as soon as the session resumes next Monday.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri “We will have a meeting with all the members of the Senate to discuss the approval of the budget,” Zubiri said. “It is only then can we ascertain the dates of its approval. But definitely we will try to finish it as ratified in two weeks.”

On Monday, Malacañang called on Congress to set aside partisan politics and pass the P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the delay was “unacceptable” as it will hamper projects and programs of the administration.

The House of Representatives transmitted the General Appropriations Bill to the Senate in November which was later than expected.

It gave the Senate only two weeks to scrutinize the measure before taking its Christmas break. Several senators, however, said they saw “insertions” in the budget which were meant to raise funds that would have helped the lawmakers finance projects aimed at boosting their reelection bids.

Senators also blamed the delay to the change of leadership in the House – from Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez to Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – in July last year.

Fighting for the quick resolution of the budget mess, Panelo charged House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. as “lacking in common sense” in reiterating his stand to file a case against Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno Diokno has been under fire from members of the House of Representatives.

Andaya threatened to file a case for mandamus before the Supreme Court (SC) if the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will not implement the scheduled salary hike for those working in government by 15 January.

“Let me read to you the text of Secretary (Benjamin) Diokno because I asked him (about this). This was his reply: ‘It’s elementary. The salary authorized in the 2018 budget covers the third tranche of SSL (Salary Standardization Law) only. The fourth tranche is provided for in the 2019 President’s budget.’ That’s for next year,” Panelo bared at a news conference.

“So, since the 2019 budget is yet to be approved and we are appropriating in a reenacted budget, 2018, necessarily, logically, there is no legal basis for giving the fourth tranche. It’s common sense. Looks like he (Andaya) lacks common sense if I were to read this answer of Secretary Diokno. That’s the logic of the reply,” he said.

The fourth and last tranche of salary increases under the SSL for government workers would need to be deferred pending the passage of the P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019.

Congressmen have pointed to Diokno as responsible for the insertions in billions of pesos. Diokno denied the allegations.

The DBM chief likewise dared Andaya to file a case against him.

“In case he is too proud to take an advice from a congressman, then we might just see each other in court. I will personally file a case for mandamus in the Supreme Court if the DBM will not implement the salary increase by 15 January,” Andaya said.

Andaya insisted the Budget secretary is using “every trick in the book to rush the Senate and the House of Representatives into approving his pet projects under the proposed 2019 national budget.”

House Majority Leader and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. (PTV Photo) The lawmaker, whose name was tagged in the Malampaya fund scam, accused Diokno of inserting P75 billion worth of infrastructure projects in the 2019 National Expenditure Program.

“Now, the DBM is using scare tactics, warning that a delay in the budget’s approval will affect the release of the funds for the salary hike of soldiers, policemen, teachers and civilian employees,” Andaya said.

The House Leader, also a former Budget secretary, advised Diokno to refrain from using the reenacted budget as an excuse saying, “The DBM has all the tools in pushing through with the salary increases this year.”

“The first round of salary increase for uniformed personnel in 2018 happened without a specific budget for it. The increase was not included in the 2018 budget proposal,” the lawmaker said.

He added the cash budget proposal for 2019 is the same as last year, thus the reenacted budget covers the needed funding for the salary increases.

“The President’s decision to extend the 2018 budget under Joint Resolution 3 also gives DBM more spending authority. If Secretary Diokno forgot how he did it, I invite him over lunch to explain how to do it,” the congressman said.