Whether 2020 budget was subject to graft depended on Palace –Cayetano

Whether the projects funded in the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020 would be subject corruption depended on how Malacañang would implement these projects, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said on Monday

"Do we have many projects? Yes. Pwede bang ma-corrupt yun? Kung sa possibilities, yes. Pero hindi na role ng budget yun, role na ng laws natin at yung enforcement," Cayetano said.

"Ang trabaho namin sa Kongreso, siguraduhin lang na walang inherently na graft-ridden project. Kumbaga, yung project tine-tempt ka talaga na i-corrupt mo. Pero yung sabihin mo 100 percent walang corruption diyan, nasa pag-eexecute yan," he added.

Senator Panfilo Lacson earlier claimed that congressmen made last-minute insertions into the 2020 national budget.

Lacson said his office received from the House of Representatives, through the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office, a USB drive containing two files: a “source” file and a “list” file.

He explained that a preliminary scrutiny of the last-minute insertions made by the House suggested that the source file was the list of 1,253 budget items worth P83.219 billion that were apparently used as the congressmen’s "source" for their "list" of 742 projects worth P16.345 billion that were inserted in the bicam report signed by Senate and House panels.

Commenting on the allegation, House Committee on Appropriations chair Isidro Ungab said he would rather let the executive branch deal with budget matters now that Congress has already approved it.

"I don't want to comment any further because the next step will be with the Office of the President. Ayaw kong pangunahan yung ating executive department," Ungab said.

"I don't want to influence their decision whether yes or no, with veto or without veto, or will it be accepted fully. It will now be the decision of the executive department, so sila na ang mag-decide," he added.

Cayetano expected President Rodrigo Duterte to sign the budget bill into law before January 1 even as Senate President Vicente Sotto III said it might take the chief executive up to January 6 to do so.

"I think it will be on time and I'm still hoping na mapirmahan before January 1. But kung mapirmahan nang January 6, wala ring delay na mangyayari," Cayetano said. — DVM, GMA News