Budget replay squanders gains

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo. (Facebook Image)

The economy faces “lost opportunities” if the government operates on a reenacted budget for the rest of the year, Malacañang warned yesterday.

The gross domestic product (GDP) target would be a primary victim, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

“A reenacted budget as a result of a budget impasse would hurt our economy,” Panelo added.

“This would translate to lost opportunities for higher growth as our economic managers are estimating a loss of 1 to 2.3 percentage points in the full-year GDP in the event the 2019 budget will not be passed,” he said.

Panelo echoed Executive Salvador Medialdea’s earlier pronouncement that a reenacted budget is a “disaster” waiting to happen.

An irritated Senate President Vicente Sotto III also said he was “sick and tired” of allegations of fund “insertions” in the proposed measure and threatened to withdraw from the bicameral conference committee the Senate’s version of the bill.

The Palace official warned big-ticket projects, particularly those under the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program “would severely be affected.”

“The ordinary Filipino would be the one greatly affected as there would be fewer openings of employment for him or her, not to mention lesser work productivity for those employed as a result of delays in the completion of badly needed transport and road network,” Panelo said.

“Programs of various departments this year intended for poverty reduction, health promotion and peace and security advancement, to mention a few, would be inevitably affected as well,” he added.

Since the start of the year, the national government has been operating under a reenacted budget after Congress failed to approve the 2019 appropriations on time.

Both chambers, however, committed to pass the new budget before Congress goes on recess on 6 February, ahead of the start of the campaign season for the midterm elections in May.

“The honorable members of Congress know of the dire consequences of a reenacted budget and we are appreciative of the statement made by some members of the bilateral committee that it will endeavor to pass the General Appropriations Bill next week,” Panelo stated.

“The Executive branch has already done its part in the budgeting process. We eagerly await Congress to complete the process, so are the Filipino people,” he stressed.

Once the bicameral conference comes up with a harmonized version of the spending bill, the measure will be sent to the Senate and House of Representatives for their ratification.

After this, the bill will be transmitted to Malacañang for the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The bicameral conference committee agreed on Wednesday to approve the proposed P3.757-trillion budget by 6 February, a development which came after Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he would propose to Senate Finance Committee chairman Loren Legarda to withdraw the Senate version and just settle for a reenacted budget for 2019 to end allegations of pork barrel and other insertions.

Senators were, however, divided over Sotto’s proposal to erase doubts of alleged “pork barrel” in the P3.757 trillion proposed national budget.

While some members of the Senate majority bloc are backing him, there are others who are non-committal.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who is a known anti-pork crusader, said, “I will support my Senate President in this regard.”

Lacson stressed that Sotto was among the three senators who told him previously that they will refuse any offer of regular allocations in the national budget.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, also expressed his backing for the Senate president. “I will have to support the Senate leadership as I trust in the good judgment of SP Sotto,” he said.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, however, maintained the necessity of institutional amendments in the national budget to fund government programs.

On the other hand, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said a reenacted budget will negatively impact on various programs of the administration.

“A reenacted budget will not be good for job creation and will stall the growth of the economy. ‘Build, Build, Build’ will suffer,” Recto said.

Senate Minority leader Franklin Drilon said, “I am against a reenacted budget.”