Belmonte vows quick passage of P23-billion supplemental budget
MANILA, Philippines–Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Wednesday vowed the speedy passage of the P23.34 billion supplemental budget, which would be spent mainly on post-“Yolanda” rehabilitation as well as preparations for the 2015 hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit.
In a chance interview, Belmonte said the supplemental budget would also fund projects that were stalled after the Supreme Court struck down the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) and some practices under the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
“Some of the projects were only completed but not yet paid. Some of them are about to be completed until the Supreme Court stalled it. I think we should complete that. That has nothing to do with the 2015 budget,” Belmonte said.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Budget and Management said the supplemental budget would be used to build permanent houses and to rebuild infrastructure in areas devastated by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan). It will also fund the rehabilitation of Lines 1 and 2 of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system ahead of the country’s Apec hosting duties in 2015.
Belmonte said he expects the supplemental budget to be submitted next week, and to be passed before the House adjourns for Christmas break on December 19.
President Benigno Aquino III has yet to certify the supplemental budget as urgent.
“I don’’t know if the President will certify it as urgent but we look at it as urgent from common sense that this will be needed for the summer months,” Belmonte said.
Belmonte also denied railroading the budget. “It will just be under faster process because there’s not much being done there right now in the appropriations committee, so they can concentrate on it.”
Belmonte also refuted the claim of militant lawmaker Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares that the supplemental budget is intended to fund the pet projects of favored lawmakers in time for the elections, now that PDAF or the pork barrel had been scrapped.
The bulk or P16.4 billion of the 2015 supplemental budget would be spent on “new and urgent” projects, including P9.5 billion for the Yolanda Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program.
At least P1.44 billion was earmarked for the hosting of the 2015 Apec Summit.
The supplemental budget would also be used to pay P1.85-billion worth of liabilities from infrastructure projects rolled out by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Another P5.08 billion would finance the “priority” projects stalled due to the high court’s rulings on the PDAF and DAP.
The Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional the practice of post-budget identification in Congress, thereby scrapping the PDAF or pork barrel as illegal amid public outcry over the alleged massive corruption scam that resulted in the detention of three senators and accused mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.
The high court also ruled as unconstitutional the practice of transferring savings across agencies under DAP, Aquino’s stimulus package and savings-impounding mechanism that was criticized as the executive’s version of pork barrel.
RELATED STORIES
DBM seeks P23.34-B supplemental budget for Yolanda rehab, LRT repairs
House eyes supplemental budget to pay for DAP projects
