Poe: Senate slashed DOTr's 2021 budget to P94B

The proposed budget for the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has been further decreased to P94 billion under the Senate version of the 2021 appropriations bill, Senator Grace Poe said Tuesday.

"The reason is most of those projects that they have lodged in DOTr was for rail, and seeing the phase of what they needed for that and the demand on other things like COVID response, we thought that the DOTr won't be able to spend it anyway next year," Poe, who sponsored the agency's budget in the plenary, said in an interview on ANC.

From the P145 billion initially earmarked for the DOTr in the national expenditure program, the House of Representatives trimmed it down to P125 billion. It was further decreased to P109 billion during the budget debates in the Senate. The agency's absorptive capacity was cited among the reasons for the budget cut.

Poe said the realignments were made to ensure that the budget for COVID-19 vaccines and healthcare services get a boost next year.

Under the Senate's version of the budget bill, P83 billion was earmarked for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines and its logistical costs.

The bicameral deliberations on the budget are still ongoing. Based on the initial timeline of the Senate Committee on Finance, the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2021 may reach the President's table for signature on December 16. —KBK, GMA News