PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed the joint resolution extending the validity of the 2018 national budget that seeks to fund priority government projects including the construction and rehabilitation of hospitals, roads and bridges.
House of Representatives Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. announced this during the hearing of the House committee on rules in Naga City, Camarines Sur on the alleged questionable practices of the Department of Budget and Managemenet (DBM), particularly on some infrastructure and flood control projects in Sorsogon.
“Unang-una gusto ko lang ipaabot sa inyo na yung cash budgeting system mukhang hindi na po matutuloy itong taon na 'to dahil pinirmahan na po ng ating mahal na Pangulo yung resolusyon na ineextend ang buhay ng 2018 budget for this year,” Andaya said.
“So ibig sabihin nabasura na yung systema na kung ano yung gagastusin sa presenteng taon na to, 'yun lang yung po yung nasa budget so hindi na po ganun ang sistema so in effect of the president signing the resolutuon extending the life of the 2018 budget does away with the cash budgeting system,” Andaya added.
The House of Representatives earlier suspended the budget deliberations in line with its position to oppose the cash-based budgeting system but later it yielded to the DBM and approved on third reading the General Appropriations Bill or the proposed P3.757 trillion national budget that provides for the first cash-based national budget.
The cash-based system of spending allows government agencies to spend funds and implement projects within the fiscal year. In the obligation-based budgeting, the usual practice of the government, contracts that were awarded before the end of the fiscal year can be delivered even after the fiscal year.
DBM Secretary Benjamin Diokno denied the claim of Andaya and said that the 2019 budget will be cash-based.
Asked to comment on Diokno’s claim, Andaya said Diokno might not have known that the resolution has already been signed by the President because he was out of the country.
“Siguro galing siya sa abroad e baka hindi niya alam, bahala siya sa buhay niya,” Andaya said, referring to Diokno.
The resolution signed by the President extends the availability of the appropriations for maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlays under the 2018 budget to December 31, 2019.
House Resolution No. 32, introduced by House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr., Minority Leader Danilo Suarez and House committee on appropriations Vice Chair Maria Carmen Zamora states that there is a need to make the 2018 budget available up to 2019 due to several devastating calamities such as Typhoons Rosita and Ompong which onslaught destroyed several infrastructure and affected the delivery of service to some communities. (SunStar Philippines)