Nograles questions ‘much lower’ 2019 proposed national budget

The House of Representatives committee on appropriations began its deliberations into the P3.757-trillion 2019 national budget on Tuesday, with chair Rep. Karlo Nograles questioning the decrease in the budget compared to last year’s.

Nograles noted that the proposed 2019 budget is lower than the P3.767-trillion national budget in 2018.

But Secretary Benjamin Diokno of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it was “misleading” to compare the P3.757-trillion cash-based budget to the 2018 obligation budget.

He explained that the cash-based equivalent was derived from the monthly disbursement program, net of accounts payables of agencies. Thus, the 2019 budget is P439.4 billion or 13.2 percent more than the 2018 budget cash-based equivalent of P3.318 trillion.

Nograles said he was expecting at least P3.9 trillion budget for 2019. He lamented that this was the first year that the country is having, “in absolute terms, a reduction of the budget.”

The Davao City 1st District representative also questioned the budget cuts in the proposed budget such as P30 billion in Department of Health’s (DepEd) barangay health centers and P100 billion for classrooms, while the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of National Defense’s budget increased.

He said this was questionable especially in light of the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law this year.

Cash-based budget

During Tuesday’s hearing, the Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) also presented the overall economic targets, expenditure levels, and sources of funds of the country.

Diokno said the 2019 budget could be deemed “revolutionary” because it would be the first cash-based budget of the government.

The Budget secretary said under this system, all government programs and projects budgeted for the fiscal year should be implemented and delivered within the same fiscal year.

“Underspending is the highest form of incompetence,” Diokno stressed.

He added that goods and services delivered, inspected, and accepted until the end of the fiscal year would be settled within the same year, up to the three-month period following the end of the fiscal year, or the Extended Payment Period (EPP).

The House appropriations committee will conduct its hearings on the budget proposals of the different government agencies and departments from July 31 to August 29. /jpv

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