Duterte dismayed by Congress inaction on P3.757-Tr budget for 2019

President Rodrigo Duterte is dismayed by the delay in the passage of the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said Monday, as Congress is set to adjourn sessions this week for the election campaign season.

“He [Duterte] is aware and I am sure he is dismayed at the legislators’ inaction which will delay his infrastructure projects,” Medialdea said in a message to reporters.

The bicameral conference committee agreed last week to approve the budget by Wednesday, a development which came after Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he would propose to Senate Finance Committee chair Loren Legarda to withdraw the Senate version and just settle for a reenacted budget for 2019 to end allegations of pork barrel and other insertions.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said last week that a reenacted budget for the whole year as a result of a budget impasse would hurt the economy as it could cut 1 to 2.3 percentage points from the gross domestic product growth.

He also said that infrastructure projects under the ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program which are in various stages of implementation would “severely be affected.”

Government programs intended for poverty reduction, health promotion, and peace and security advancement would be affected as well, Panelo said.

Still, both Medialdea and Panelo said they remained hopeful that Congress will pass the spending bill this week.

“We are still hopeful that the legislators will perform their constitutional duties as President Duterte and his economic team did by submitting the President’s budget on the day of the SONA [State of the Nation Address], or 30 days before the constitutional deadline,” Medialdea said.

Panelo, meanwhile, relied on the pronouncements of lawmakers about their commitment to pass the proposed national budget. —NB, GMA News