Abad asked to trim P23-B supplemental budget

MANILA, Philippines - Leaders of the House of Representatives have asked Budget Secretary Florencio Abad to trim the P23-billion supplemental budget being requested by Malacañang for funding additional expenditures not covered by the proposed P2.606- trillion national budget for 2015.

Majority Leader Rep. Neptali Gonzales II said Abad submitted last week a draft of a supplemental outlay for this year’s unfunded obligations.

Gonzales said he and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. met last Monday to clarify certain provisions. Also at the meeting were Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, chairman of the committee on appropriations, and Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson.

“We agreed that there are certain items (in the supplemental budget) that the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) can do without – so they will be removed,” Gonzales told reporters.

He said he would wait for the filing of the final version on Monday before choosing which expenditures would be removed and funded by other sources.

He said Singson explained that one of the expenditures listed in the proposed supplemental budget is the P1.8-billion payment for completed projects that were supposed to be paid from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Gonzales said they also asked Abad why the proposed outlay included some P7 billion for Yolanda rehabilitation which is already covered in the proposed 2015 national budget.

Abad explained the additional funding requirement was necessary because the Yolanda rehabilitation master plan came out after the submission of the 2015 budget program to the House.

The proposed additional budget will also help defray costs of the country’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings next year.

Gonzales said Abad explained the additional expenses for the APEC were not included in the proposed 2015 budget because the complete Malacañang report on the hosting of the event came in late.

He said they hope President Aquino would certify the supplemental budget bill as urgent to expedite its passage, hopefully before the Christmas break.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, for her part, said Abad’s admission that there were prior consultations with lawmakers regarding their priority projects is proof that there is pork barrel in the 2015 budget.

“In other words, there may be no separate item called Priority Development Assistance Fund, but the funds have already been built into the proposed 2015 budget,” Santiago said.

“These funds, regardless of the name, may be considered pork barrel, because they are national funds used for local projects selected by legislators, and they are granted in lump sums,” she added.

Final version next week

Gonzales also said the Senate and the House of Representatives will finalize the proposed P2.606-trillion 2015 national budget next week.

“We will constitute the bicameral conference committee that will reconcile our version of the budget and the Senate version on Monday. So the conference can begin Tuesday or Wednesday,” Gonzales told a news conference yesterday. – With Paolo Romero, Marvin Sy