No holiday hams

His desire for every centavo of people’s money spent wisely, however, gives impetus to the thorough check on the budget bill.

The Palace had served notice that Christmas is not a reason for members of Congress to get away with pork barrel insertions in the proposed 2020 budget as this will be subjected to a fine-tooth comb by President Rody Duterte.

The Bicameral Conference Committee made up of senators and members of the House of Representatives succeeded in passing the final version of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) with the hope of Rody’s immediate signing.

The President, however, chose to hold a thorough review of the budget to weed out the insertions, some of which were made during the drafting of the final bill.

Rody deleted, through his veto power, some P95.3 billion worth of items in the 2019 national budget, which were considered in conflict with the Supreme Court 2013 ruling that outlawed the Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel.

Among the vetoed items were P75 billion in insertions made by the House to the final version of the budget bill that were not part of the program by the Department of Public Works and Highways, which is against provisions of the Constitution since these were considered “unprogrammed” funds.

A fierce battle on the insertions resulted to the government being forced to rely on a reenacted 2018 budget until mid-April this year.

The delay in the government’s spending plan resulted to the economy underperforming as it grew a lower than expected 5.5 percent in the first half against the consecutive six percent or above semestral growth rates in the past few years.

It threw off targets of the economic team to elevate the growth rate to around seven percent, which would place the country on an equal footing with its already progressive neighbors.

The same painstaking review is being undertaken on the P4.1 trillion 2020 allocations bill to make clear to legislators that Rody will not let pass porky insertions in the budget and will make sure that public money is well spent.

Based on some estimates, the supposed last-minute insertions totaled P83 billion in the 2020 bill.

Around 1,253 budget items are under review over which Rody may exercise his veto power on.

The House, which is the usual suspect when it comes to insertions, had certified that there are no illegal insertions in the budget, such as pork and parked funds.

House Appropriations Committee chairman Isidro Ungab said the 2020 bill complies with the “express instructions” of President Rodrigo Duterte as it would be a powerful tool to help deliver his goal of a “safe and comfortable life for all.”

Ungab said the budget process was undertaken with “utmost transparency.”

“Both houses ratified the budget bill. The representatives of both the Senate and House agreed on the amendments to, and final version of, the 2020 GAB at the Bicameral Conference Committee,” he guaranteed.

Rody, of course, would be the last person to tolerate a delay, knowing its deleterious impact on the economy.

His desire for every centavo of people’s money spent wisely, however, gives impetus to the thorough check on the budget bill.