Drilon sees abuse of discretion in P75B additional budget for DPWH

Minority Leader Franklin Drilon criticized on Monday the seeming abuse of discretion of the Department of  Budget and Management (DBM) when it lodged an additional P75 billion to the proposed budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for 2019.

Drilon made the statement after Senator Loren Legarda, who is defending the DPWH as chair of the Senate finance committee, said that it was the duty and prerogative of the DBM to augment, delete, change the budget.

He said such prerogative cannot be exercised  arbitrarily “and that arbitrariness is what we see in this exercise.”

The DPWH initially asked DBM for a P650.5 billion budget for 2019 but the latter said the DPWH can only have P480 billion. The DPWH then submitted to the DBM P480 billion worth of projects that it will implement.

But when the National Expenditure Program or proposed budget reached Congress, DBM submitted P555 billion worth of projects under the DPWH.

During the budget hearing, Senator Panfilo Lacson questioned the additional P75 billion as it was not part of what the DPWH submitted to the DBM.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier said the adjustments was to meet the infrastructure spending target of 5 percent of the gross domestic product.

Legarda, quoting Villar who is at the session hall, said the augmentation is part of the budget process.

But Villar, speaking through Legarda, admitted that he only knew about that P75 billion additional fund when he saw the NEP which was submitted to the Congress for deliberation.

“Upon submission of the NEP, that is when Secretary Villar saw the P75 billion from the P480 billion the DPWH submitted,” Legarda told the plenary.

Lacson also asked if the additional fund is an initiative of the DBM, to which Legarda answered in the affirmative.

Drilon said there seemed to be a “light from somewhere” that led DBM to put an augmentation.

Lacson said the “light” definitely did not come from the DPWH.

Drilon said it was an afterthought to rationalize the P75 billion and “somebody told DBM to include P75 billion.”

“Suddenly it dawned on them that we should make it plus P75 billion. In other words, not only P480 billion but suddenly we should add P75 billion. The question being asked is how did the P75 billion come about when precisely the DPWH is in the dark as to how this came about,” he said.

“In other words, there is an indication of abuse (of) discretion because while indeed it is your (DBM) discretion and prerogative but that prerogative cannot be exercised to the point of being arbitrary and that is what we see today," he added. —LDF, GMA News