No new infra project can start under reenacted budget: Diokno

No new infrastructure project can start under a reenacted budget, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Wednesday. (PNA File photo)

MANILA — No new infrastructure project can start under a reenacted budget, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Wednesday.

“Under a reenacted budget, no new infrastructure projects can start because the capital outlays component of the previous year’s budget cannot be deemed reenacted,” Diokno said in a Palace briefing.

“Only the personal services and the maintenance and other operating expenditures are deemed reenacted. Capital outlays, let me repeat, are not deemed reenacted,” he added.

The government is currently faced with the prospects of a reenacted budget at least for the first quarter of 2019.

Diokno explained that new projects will have to wait until the 2019 General Appropriations Act is passed into law since the same projects cannot be funded and finished twice.

He, however, assured that large projects that are covered by the Multi-Year Obligational Authority (MYOA), such as the Metro Manila subway and Philippine National Railway long haul, will not be adversely affected.

The budget chief also said that the internal revenue allotment for local government units and debt service will not be affected as they are automatically appropriated.

Salary hike delayed

According to Diokno, personnel services, such as salaries, wages, pension and retirement and the like, and the maintenance and other operating expenses are deemed reenacted – but they will be based on the 2018 level.

This means that salary adjustments for civilian and military personnel that are programmed for 2019 will have to wait.

“I repeat: the fourth tranche of the salary standardization for government employees will be deferred until such time (as) the 2019 General Appropriations Act is passed into law,” he said.

Meanwhile, Diokno also noted that if no new budget is passed in the first quarter, disbursements will be reduced by PHP44 billion.

“We estimate that in total, a reenacted budget for the first quarter of 2019 will reduce total disbursements by an estimated 44 billion for one quarter – if it is delayed by one quarter,” he said.

If no new budget is passed for the entire year, disbursements will be reduced by PHP219.

8 billion or PHP220 billion.

Diokno said a reenacted budget will be “detrimental to the economic growth and development objectives of the Duterte administration”, especially since it intends to ramp up investments on public infrastructure, poverty alleviation and social services.

He warned that the momentum of the administration’s infrastructure projects are at risk of slowing down.

The budget secretary, meanwhile, expressed hope that lawmakers would see the urgency and wisdom in passing the proposed PHP3.757-trillion 2019 national budget at the soonest possible time.

No special session

Asked why the President did not insist that the Senate hold a special session during the legislative Christmas break to force the passage of the proposed budget, Diokno said that Duterte simply gave in to the senators’ request.

“There was a strong request from the senators, sabi nila pagod na pagod na raw sila. So pinagbigyan na lang namin (They said they were tired. So we deferred to their request). We decided not to call a special session,” he said.

Diokno also admitted that in his 32 years of public service, it is only now that he experienced having “problems” on the passage of the proposed national budget.

“The facts speak for itself. We didn’t have problems with the first two budgets of the President. It was actually done before December.

About this time, tapos na kami (we were finished),” Diokno said.