Duterte also ordered conditional implementation of some budget provisions — Palace

Malacañang on Monday said that President Rodrigo Duterte subjected certain provisions of the 2019 national budget to conditional implementation to ensure conformity with existing laws.

The action was implemented as Duterte also vetoed over P95 billion worth of items.

The items covered by this conditional implementation are:

• allowance and benefits of teachers and the creation of teaching positions,
• construction of evacuation centers,
• funding for foreign-assisted projects,
• revolving fund,
• lump-sum appropriations for capital outlays,
• financial assistance to local government units
• funding requirements of the country's foreign service

"True to his commitment and constitutional duty to be fealty to the constitutional directives, the President vetoed items of appropriation that are either considered by law and jurisprudence as rider provisions not being related to a particular appropriation or they seek to amend the Constitution and certain statutes," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

After four months of functioning on a re-enacted spending plan, President Duterte signed the General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2019 on Monday, quashing over P95.3-billion worth of items under the Department of Public Works and Highways that were "outside the government's programmed priorities."

The proposed national budget for 2019 was caught in an impasse after members of the House of the Representatives and the Senate argued over alleged anomalous budget insertions. — BAP, GMA News