Senate to scrutinize DOH, DPWH, DSWD, DA in upcoming budget debates —Sotto

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday said his colleagues will give special attention to the programs and projects of at least four departments in the upcoming debates for the 2022 national budget.

“‘Yung mga may alegasyon ng corruption at mga may problema sa underspending, siguro kailangan busisiing mabuti ang mga iyon,” Sotto said in a virtual interview after Senate’s opening of session.

(Maybe we should scrutinize those departments with allegations of corruption and the problems of underspending.)

He then mentioned the Departments of Health, Agriculture, Public Works and Highway, and Social Welfare and Development as some of the agencies that will be scrutinized thoroughly by the lawmakers.

“May mga departments na may red flags for example DOH, DA, DPWH, DSWD. ‘Yan ang medyo bubusisiing mabuti ng mga kasama ko,” he said.

(There are departments with red flags such as the DOH, DA, DPWH, and the DSWD. So those are the agencies that my colleagues will examine thoroughly.)

“I’m just talking my hat here. I’m just basing it on issues that have been raised earlier, allegations,” he added.

In his speech during the opening of the Senate session, Sotto vowed that the Upper House will continue to "to expose corruption in public service and direct the searchlight of one of our committees towards the dark corners of our bureaucracy where corruption and injustice thrive unnoticed."

After President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address, the executive department is expected to submit to the House of the Representatives the National Expenditures Program (NEP) containing the projects and programs of all departments and agencies which will be funded by the 2022 national budget.

Under the rules, the House of Representatives should first pass its version of the proposed national budget before the Senate approves its counterpart bill. A bicameral conference committee will then be convened to thresh out differences and arrive at a common version of the budget bill.

The annual appropriations bill should be signed by President Rodrigo Duterte before the end of the year to avoid a reenacted budget.—AOL, GMA News