2019 budget: Senate, House to re-prioritize P50 B
Credit to Author: ggaviola| Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2019 06:05:25 +0000
MANILA, Philippines – The bicameral conference committee (bicam) on the 2019 national budget on Monday agreed to re-prioritize some portions of the proposed budget which the Senate has branded as an “institutional amendment” and “not pork.”
The Senate-House conference has temporarily set the amount to be “re-prioritized” at P50 billion from the total P3.8 trillion budget.
Both contingents would consult their colleagues on whether the amount would be enough to accommodate institutional requests of government agencies.
The bicam has yet to identify from which programs the fund would be deducted and to which this would be realigned.
“I hope that this would not be misconstrued as individual amendments. Most, if not all, of that is institutional amendment,” Senator Loren Legarda, chairperson of the Senate finance committee, said.
Legarda said she doesn’t consider these as ‘pork barrel’ as long as it’s an “institutional request” or requested by government agencies, and it’s ‘vetted.’
In a separate interview, House appropriations chairperson and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. dubbed the P50 billion as an “insertion of the institution.”
When asked if this could be considered pork or lump sum appropriations which the Supreme Court declared as unconstitutional in 2014, Andaya answered: “Insertion ng institusyon, ganun na lang sabihin natin.”
Legarda earlier said they hope to finish the conference by January 30 and ratify the proposed expenditure plan February 6. /gsg