Palace opposes re-enacted budget in 2019, warns of consequences on economy
Credit to Author: RALPH VILLANUEVA| Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2019 04:50:56 +0000
MALACANANG on Thursday opposed the proposal of Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd for a re-enacted budget in 2019, saying it will do more harm than good.
Sotto said on Wednesday that he would ask Senator Loren Legarda, finance committee chairperson, to withdraw the Senate’s version of the General Appropriations bill and go for a re-enacted budget, to “erase all doubts and allegations of pork and other so-called insertions.”
In a statement, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said the re-enacted budget would only hurt the country’s economy.
He said that such a move would result in a loss of 1 to 2.3 percentage points in the full-year gross domestic product (GDP) if the P3.757 trillion 2019 budget won’t be approved.
Panelo also said that the administration’s mega-infrastructure Build, Build, Build projects would also be sidelined, which would have a domino effect on the employment of Filipinos and other aspects.
“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 said.
The spokesman also called on members of Congress to pass the bill anew, saying they know the dire consequences of a re-enacted budget.
He also welcomed the statement of the bilateral conference committee that the budget would be passed next week.
“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 said.
Congress failed to pass the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA) or the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget over alleged irregularities.
Last year, the House of Representatives suspended deliberations because congressmen rejected the cash-based budgeting proposed by the Office of the President.
The budget was always obligation-based in the past, meaning agencies may retain their obligated budget for projects at the end of the year even if the projects have yet to be finished. Moreover, an obligation-based budget allows agencies to appropriate funds for projects and pay them the following year.
In a cash-based system, agencies must spend all of their obligated budgets within the year, with a three-month extension after the fiscal year, or lose them.
Other issues also surfaced, including the alleged last-minute insertions of the Executive.
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