House committee of the whole votes to distribute P51.9b to more legislative districts

September 18, 2018

The House of Representatives’convened into a committee of the whole and realigned for fair and  distribution the alleged P52-billion insertions under the 2019 proposed P3.757-trillion national budget.

With an overwhelming vote Tuesday, House Majority Leader and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., presiding chairman, declared that the motion of Deputy Speaker and Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro, the floor leader, to amend House Bill (HB) No. 8169 under Committee Report No. 854 or the national budget to distribute the P51.792-billion to many legislative districts which was allocated to several districts.

Andaya said the national budget of President Rodrigo Dutere is intact and the sponsorship of it in the plenary will begin Wednesday.

“Our intention is not to destroy what the Executive proposes but to strengthen it. To vet and validate and verify proposed funds because the budget is not a document as thin as a bank account,” he said.

The discovery of the billions worth of “insertions” has delayed the plenary sponsorship and deliberations on the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) because of complaints by lawmakers.

“The budget is not like tablets from Mt. Sinai that are set in stone,” Andaya said on the floor. “The tradition is we do not stray from President’s wishes so there will be no cuts, no reductions (to the proposed GAA) and even if we weigh it, it will remain complete.”

Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu urged lawmakers to join the daily plenary deliberations starting Wednesday to ensure that the budget will be approved before a month-long congressional break that will begin on October 13.

The realignment includes the funds of the Department of Education (DepEd) for construction of tech-voc facilities, P3-billion; Department of Agriculture’s (DA) farm-to-market roads, P5-billion; state universities and colleges’ (SUCs) capital outlays, P1.2-billion; Department of Heath’s (DoH) human resources for health deployment and health facilities enhancement program, P3-billion; and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). DMS