Reenacted budget not effective in meeting Pinoys’ needs

Operating on reenacted budget in 2019 would render the government ineffective in meeting the needs of Filipinos as well as the requirements of public service,  economists said Wednesday.

A reenacted budget is “based on past realities and conditions” and “may not reflect future needs and wants of ordinary citizens,” Cid Terosa, dean at the University of Asia and the Pacific School of Economics, told GMA News Online.

“It may also not reflect the future magnitude of government services needed to satisfy those needs and wants,” Terosa said.

Based on the schedule of the Senate Committee on Finance, the bicameral panel will be able to approve the proposed P3.757-trillion budget for next year on Jan. 29, 2019.

Approving the 2019 budget next January instead of December 2018 sets the tone for a reenacted budget.

This means that the government has no appropriations for programs next year as it must operate on the same general appropriations as 2018.

The 1987 Constitution states that “If, by the end of any fiscal year, the Congress shall have failed to pass the general appropriations bill for the ensuing fiscal year, the general appropriations law for the preceding fiscal year shall be deemed reenacted and shall remain in force and effect until the general appropriations bill is passed by the Congress.”

New and planned government initiatives for 2019 will be unfunded since the previous fiscal year’s budget will be used, independent economic consultant John Paolo Rivera said.

"This may affect economic activities relevant to 2019. Government should work double time to meet their deadline,” Rivera said.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier said that a reenacted budget would have a negative impact on the economy in the first and second quarters of 2019—a result of a five-month implementation gap in infrastructure projects.

Terosa agrees with Diokno’s assumption.

A reenacted budget may not meet the country’s growth and development needs, considering it is “based on past conditions and realities and not on future possibilities and potential occurrences.” Terosa added. —VDS, GMA News