Lacson: Questionable provisions in DPWH's proposed P667B budget due to late submission

Published September 10, 2020 11:02 AM By LLANESCA T. PANTI, GMA News

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was late in submitting its proposed P667.3 billion budget for 2021 to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) which resulted in the inclusion of questionable provisions, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Thursday.

Lacson said that DPWH’s late submission was the reason P73.5 billion worth of projects in 2020 or 2,933 items were funded again in 2021 and that the P396 billion lump sum in DPWH’s proposed budget were not itemized.

“Ang mahirap maintindihan, major policy direction ng 2021 national budget as proposed by Malacañang to Congress ang Build, Build, Build program under their Reset, Rebound, Recover strategy as they admitted it to me kanina, but how come, based on our verified information, DPWH failed to submit its proposed budget to the DBCC or DBM on time,” Lacson said in a statement.

“That's why DBM just decided to submit all those questionable appropriations. Unfortunately for them, my staff and I always do our homework each time in scrutinizing the annual budget para hindi ma-discover such a glaring error. They should know me better by now,” he added.

Lacson flagged the P73 billion and the P396 billion

on Wednesday during the budget deliberations, saying that such appropriations are in violation of the Constitution which bans reappropriation of DPWH budget for unfinished projects.

As a result, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado vowed to furnish the Senate a copy of the revised list of DPHW’s proposed projects in 2021 worth P469 billion, as well as the details on DPWH’s P396 billion in lump sum appropriations lodged in its central office and P73.5 billion repetitive appropriations.

Without those details, Lacson said that the government coffers will be up for grabs of the corrupt officials.

“Actually, ako ang nag-suggest that DBM can do it by sending an "errata" to us to correct those illegal entries in the NEP (National Expenditure Program) because they are unacceptable,” he said.

“Ang risk ng errata…pag may lulutang lutang sa budget while still undergoing deliberations, especially if the amount is as humongous as P469 billion, for lack of a more decent analogy, para tayong nagtapon ng maraming manok sa ilog na  maraming buwaya,” he added.

GMA News Online has reached out to DPWH for comment but they are yet to reply on Lacson’s claims as of posting time.—AOL, GMA News

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