{"id":197906,"date":"2019-01-15T21:42:26","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T02:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=197906"},"modified":"2019-01-15T21:42:26","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T02:42:26","slug":"removal-of-p75-b-in-dpwh-budget-wont-affect-infra-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/01\/15\/removal-of-p75-b-in-dpwh-budget-wont-affect-infra-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Removal of P75-B in DPWH budget won’t affect infra projects"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that the Palace is not worried that infrastructure projects would be hampered since there are other ways to seek for additional funding. (File Photo<\/a>: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— There are \u201cmany ways\u201d to push through with the administration\u2019s infrastructure projects, even after the Senate removed the PHP75-billion in additional funding allegedly “inserted” into the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Malaca\u00f1ang said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that the Palace is not worried that infrastructure projects would be hampered since there are other ways to seek for additional funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d Panelo said when asked during a Palace briefing if the Palace is concerned about lacking funds to continue infrastructure projects following the Senate\u2019s decision to delete the PHP75-billion from DPWH\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many ways (to seek additional funding). The Executive is very creative as well as Congress.\u00a0Tingnan natin<\/em>\u00a0(Let\u2019s see),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the Senate agreed to remove the PHP75-billion after Public Works Secretary Mark Villar reportedly admitted he was not informed about the alleged insertions made by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).<\/p>\n

Panelo pointed out that one of the options was to ask Congress for a supplemental budget used exclusively for infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cKung kulang, puwede naman magdagdag ng appropriation di ba? May<\/em>\u00a0supplemental budget,\u00a0puwede naman yun e<\/em>\u00a0(So if it is lacking, we can ask for additional appropriation, right? There\u2019s a supplemental budget, we can use that). Basta for the good of the country, dapat every branch of the government must cooperate,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Panelo further said that it was the job of Congress to go over the budget proposal and amend it as necessary.<\/p>\n

He also refused to call the PHP75 billion additional funding for the DPWH as \u201cinsertion\u201d, noting that it was the job of the Executive Department to make budget proposals.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said increases in the DPWH budget were “aboveboard” and part of the budget process.<\/p>\n

\u201cNumber one, the assumption is wrong. The Executive did not insert.\u00a0Trabaho nga nila magbigay ng<\/em>\u00a0(It\u2019s their job to give) budget proposal. Number two, that\u2019s the job of Congress to amend.\u00a0Kung ginawa nila \u2018yun<\/em>, (if they did that) then they\u2019re doing their job,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Misquoted\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Panelo, meanwhile, rejected Villar\u2019s statement that he had no knowledge that insertions were made into the budget of his own department, suggesting that the Cabinet Secretary might have been misquoted.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaka naman<\/em>\u00a0(Perhaps) he was misquoted. It cannot be that he had no prior knowledge\u00a0kasi<\/em>\u00a0(because) that was discussed in the Cabinet. That was a proposal, all of us were present and all of us consented to that,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

He explained that since every budget is to be presented to the Cabinet and has to be approved by the President, Villar should have been aware about the additional funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi lang<\/em>\u00a0(He was not only) informed, he was present in the Cabinet unless he went out to make a pee,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Duterte administration\u2019s PHP3.8 trillion proposed budget for 2019 was refused to be passed by Congress before yearend following pork barrel allegations.<\/p>\n

Panelo, however, expressed confidence that the proposed 2019 budget will finally be passed within the first quarter of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cSa tingnin ko ma-approve \u2018yun. \u2018Yun yung naririnig ko sa<\/em>\u00a0members of Congress (I think it will be approved. That\u2019s what I heard from members of the Congress). The statement of (Senate President Vicente) Sotto and even Speaker Gloria Arroyo said they are working on it and they will do their job,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

He said he expects the tiff between Congress and Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno to die down once the proposed 2019 budget is approved.<\/p>\n

\u201cYung conflict nila<\/em>\u00a0(The conflict) arose out of the items in the budget,\u00a0e kung in-approve na nila yun anong conflict pa ang pag-uusapan<\/em>\u00a0(but if they approve the budget, what conflict is there to talk about). If you approve the budget,\u00a0di wala nang conflict<\/em>\u00a0(there\u2019s no more conflict),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— There are \u201cmany ways\u201d to push through with the administration\u2019s infrastructure projects, even after the Senate removed the PHP75-billion …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":197910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}