The Palace should begin its review of the P4.5 trillion 2021 national budget by scrutinizing double and overlapping appropriations in the Department of Public Works and Highways, Senator Panfilo Lacson said.
Lacson, who questioned such irregularities in the DPWH budget in committee hearings all the way to the plenary, said he is willing to help in the review by pointing out items on which the President might want to use his line veto.
“It is clear that questionable items such as double and overlapping appropriations should be vetoed, along with at least 793 line items for multi-purpose buildings with a uniform P1 million appropriation each,” he said.
Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, however, said the first priority for the 2021 national budget was clearly the COVID response.
Congress made sure there will be sufficient funding to cover items such as the purchase of vaccines, testing, contact tracing and treatment, Angara said.
Still, Lacson said not even the devastating effects of the pandemic could slake the greed of some lawmakers.
During his interpellation of the bicameral conference committee report of the 2021 budget, Lacson questioned the P28.348-billion increase in the DPWH’s budget despite its track record of underspending and questionable, wasteful projects.
Before this, Lacson recommended a reduction of P60 billion from the DPWH’s proposed budget for 2021, including for multi-purpose buildings except those to be used as evacuation and quarantine facilities, as well as double appropriations, right-of-way payments and overlapping projects.
Lacson recalled how President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed some P95 billion in items in the 2019 budget, after senators, including himself, raised concerns over how some lawmakers had inserted pork into the spending bill.
The bicameral committee report, he said, showed not only questionable insertions but also cuts from the budgets of other departments.
“As if it wasn’t enough to satisfy their greed, they cut the budgets of other departments by P28.35B. Story of our lives,” Lacson said on his Twitter account.
“These realignments being capricious and arbitrary on the part of the bicameral conference committee members, they did not involve proper planning by the DPWH. This explains why… year in and year out, DPWH suffers one of the lowest budget utilization rates with an annual average of P82 billion from 2011 to 2018 and even lower average disbursement rate since 2017,” he added.
“This only shows that for some, a pandemic – and the crippling effects it has on all sectors of society – should not get in the way of personal interests,” Lacson said.
Angara, for his part, said the 2021 budget will also fund some recent laws, including one aimed at producing more doctors to attend to the health needs of Filipinos in all parts of the country by providing full medical scholarships to qualified and deserving students.
To ensure that cancer patients would receive much needed assistance in compliance with Republic Act 11215 or the National Integrated Cancer Control Act, Congress provided P620 million to the Department of Health (DOH) for its cancer assistance fund and for cancer medicines for children.
For the implementation of RA 11036 or the Mental Health Act, a total of P434.5 million was provided in the budgets of the DOH and Department of Social Welfare and Development.
To further expand and improve the coverage of free Wi-fi in public places, the Department of Information and Communications Technology was provided with P3.225 billion for the implementation of RA 10929 or the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act.
The Department of Education (DepEd) was provided with P1.365 billion for the increase in the teaching supplies allowance for public school teachers from the present P3,500 to P5,000 in 2021.
The registration for the Philippine Identification System (RA 11055) or the national ID system is ongoing and to ensure all targets and schedules are met, the Philippine Statistics Authority was provided with P4.32 billion in its budget. Another P2.5 billion was also included under the unprogrammed appropriations for the same purpose.
Under the judiciary, to help clear up the courts’ dockets and to reduce or eliminate violent attacks against judges, a total of P295 million was provided for the implementation of RA 11459 or the Judges-at-Large Act and the creation of the Judicial Marshal Service, which is currently pending in Congress.
To comply with the provisions of RA 11293 or the Philippine Innovation Act, P200 million was included in the budget of the National Economic and Development Authority for the Innovation Fund to augment the funds of the National Innovation Council.
Two newly-created agencies—the Philippine Space Agency and the National Commission of Senior Citizens – will get P313.717 million and P25 million respectively.
The National Academy of Sports, created by virtue of RA 11470, which was enacted last June 9, 2020, will start construction next year with a P729 million funding under the Bases Conversion and Development Authority and P264.6 million under the DepEd.
To provide more training for work scholarships under RA 11230 or the Tulong Trabaho Act, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority was provided with P1.021 billion.
But Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon likened the P72.5 billion earmarked for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines to an unfunded check and reiterated his concerns about the lack of a definite source of funds to immunize around 60 million Filipinos next year.
Drilon said there is uncertainty about how the government can raise at least P70 billion next year for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines as only P2.5 billion would be guaranteed under the 2021 spending outlay amid a global race to buy vaccines.
The Congress is set to submit to the President the proposed 2021 P4.5 trillion General Appropriations Act. However, only P2.5 billion, out of the P72.5 billion, is funded. The remaining P70 billion is in the unprogrammed fund – the funding for which depends on approved loans or if the government exceeds its non-tax revenues targets, Drilon said.
“It’s like we’re issuing a check without adequate funding. We hope it will not bounce,” Drilon said.