HOUSE Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. said a former Cabinet official who is now seeking an elective post parked P300 million in the proposed 2019 budget.
Parked funds is a term used to define a budget inserted in a congressional district which is intended to fund a different project or district.
Andaya, in a statement on Sunday, December 16, said the information came from a mayor whom he refused to name. The mayor is from Bicol Region.
“A mayor from Region 5 approached me over the weekend and intimated that a former Cabinet official now seeking an elective seat was responsible for 'parking' at least P300 million in infrastructure projects in the proposed 2019 national budget,” Andaya said.
“The mayor, who requested not to be named in the meantime disclosed that the Cabinet member parked the allocation in flood mitigation projects for the region,” he added.
According to Andaya, more local government executives want to seek an audience with him to shed light on the so- called "parking scam" in the budget allocations in Region 5.
"Lumapit sa akin ang mayor dahil ngayon lang daw nila naiintindihan ang mga nangyayari. Pumayag sila sa parking scheme dahil para rin naman daw sa benepisyo ng mga constituents ang mga proyekto. Nililinaw lang nila na hindi daw sila kumita sa mga proyektong ito,” Andaya further said.
(The mayor approached me. He said they agreed to the parking scheme because it would benefit their constituents anyway. He clarified that they did not earn anything from these projects.)
Andaya said the House committee on rules will include the issue on parked funds in its investigation into the national budget on January 3.
This is the recent development in the issues hounding the Department of Budget and Management concerning the 2019 budget.
The House of Representatives earlier quizzed Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno over the P52 billion worth of budget insertions and his links to the billions of pesos worth of allocation for infrastructure projects in Sorsogon. (SunStar Philippines)