Key infra seeks poll ban shield

The government has sought an exemption from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for P500 billion worth of big-ticket projects from the election spending ban, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.

The Omnibus Election Code bans government projects and the release of public funds from 29 March to 12 May.

In a statement, Diokno said the projects that are being sought for exemption from the ban were among the 75 flagship projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program.

“Our budget for infra is close to P1 trillion this year and it is very important that we have this started during the dry months. So, we can say that maybe at least half of the trillion pesos will have to start in the first quarter,” he said.

He added the 45-day ban will disrupt the infrastructure initiative.

The economic team will submit a memo to President Rodrigo Duterte, primarily asking Comelec to exempt several big-ticket projects from the spending ban.

“We’re confident that our request will be granted. This is for national welfare and development, so I think the Comelec will be broad-minded enough,” he said.

Diokno emphasized the need to exempt big-ticket projects from the spending ban, saying the delay in passing the proposed P3.757-trillion budget is expected to affect P50 billion of infrastructure projects in the first quarter.

He previously said at least 7 percent gross domestic product growth in 2019 is expected to feel the effect of a budget replay as he said the economy grows by an additional 0.5 to 1 percent due to election spending.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, meanwhile, said the exemption of large infrastructure from the election ban will partly offset the economic impact of a reenacted budget.

Pernia estimated that a reenacted budget would dent economic growth by 1.6 to 2.3 percentage points, in case the situation lasts throughout 2019.

“One thing we can do is to ask for exemptions from Comelec from the ban on spending after March and I think agencies needing to get exemptions should be getting exemptions, especially, we pointed out, the impact of the delayed passage of the budget,” Pernia said.

All government implementing agencies, particularly the Department of Public Works and Highways as well as the Department of Transportation will take a “common position” on spending ban exemptions to ensure all infrastructure projects are kept on track despite the delayed budget approval, he said.

He added exempting infrastructure spending from the Comelec ban is necessary to counter the negative effects of the delayed passage of the 2019 national budget on the country’s economy.

Apparently irked by continued allegations and counter-allegations about “pork barrel” in the 2019 proposed national budget between senators and congressmen, Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday said he would rather propose a reenacted budget for the entire year.

SOTTO Sotto said he would propose to Senate Finance Committee chairman Sen. Loren Legarda to withdraw the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) version of the Senate and just settle for a reenacted national budget for the whole of 2019.

“Considering the numerous allegations being leveled at the 2019 budget, both from the House of Representatives and the Senate, I will propose to Senator Loren to withdraw the Senate GAB version and go for a reenacted budget,” the Senate President said in a message to reporters.

“I hope that will erase all doubts and allegations of pork and other so-called insertions in the budget,” he added.

Sotto’s statements drew mixed reactions from his colleagues.

Legarda, in a statement, said she would take the Senate President’s stand into consideration during the bicameral conference for the budget measure.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon rejected it, saying “I am against a reenacted budget.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, on the other hand, supported Sotto’s stand, saying the Senate President, Drilon and Sen. Francis Pangilinan were among the senators who told him before that “they will reject regular allocations, if offered.”

“He must be as frustrated as I am as well as most of our like-minded colleagues that pork has not left the annual budget, even after the SC (Supreme Court) ruling outlawing the same in a landmark decision,” Lacson said.

“It goes without saying, I will support my Senate President in this regard,” he added.

Allegations flew between members of the House of Representatives and the senators about multibillion-peso insertions in the proposed 2019 national budget.

Lacson on Tuesday revealed some senators were behind the P23 billion in individual amendments which he claimed to be “pork barrel.”

He previously alleged that P51 billion was inserted in the budget measure which was the source of “pork barrel” allotted for each of the 290 congressmen.

House appropriations committee chairman Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said senators were behind P190-billion amendments in the proposed measure.

“I’m sick and tired of the allegations,” Sotto pointed out.

The proposed P3.757 trillion 2019 national budget is currently being tackled in the bicameral conference committee, led by Legarda and Andaya.

House leaders, however, claim that they will push for the approval of the 2019 GAB.

House Committee on Appropriations chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. said House members reject a reenacted budget.

“It is a matter internal to the Senate. But on the part of the House, our position remains unchanged. We want a new budget. We are against a reenacted one,” Andaya said in a statement.

He also urged the senators to push through with the bicameral conference, adding he remains hopeful for a “positive outcome.”

“Long before senators called for transparency, we have unilaterally announced that we are ready and willing to disclose and justify our amendments to the national budget,” he added.

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said the P3.757-trillion national budget for this year should be enacted.

“Well, of course, we want to have it come out before it’s too late,” Arroyo said.

“So, I think, you read in the newspapers that the Senate owed up to P200 billion in their own amendments, so that has to be sorted out between the House and the Senate,” she said.

Arroyo added she cannot “pre-empt or second guess” the reenactment of the budget because she is not participating in the bicameral conference.