Camarines Sur 1st District Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. Photo by Pathricia Ann V. Roxas/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – House appropriations chairperson and Camarines Sur 1st District Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said another P53 billion worth of inserted projects in the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was discovered.
“Akala natin lahat malinis na… ‘yun pala sa pag recheck nung mga nai-print na proyekto, P53 billion pala dyan hindi nila kailangan o hindi nila hinihingi. Merong sumingit na naman na P53 billion worth of projects. Iba pa to sa P75 (billion),” Andaya told reporters in an interview after the Senate-House conference on the proposed P3.8 trillion national budget for 2019 held at the Manila Polo Club, Makati City.
(We thought it was all clean, but when we checked it was discovered that there were P53 billion worth of projects that the DPWH does not need or asked for. This is aside from the P75 billion.)
Asked if this was inserted by Budget Sec. Benjamin Diokno, the Camarines Sur congressman replied: “‘Yun nga gusto rin namin malaman eh kung sino bang nag-eencode nyan.”
(That’s what we want to know, who encoded it.)
The former House Majority Leader said this was discovered by the DPWH itself.
“Hindi naman sa hindi nila kailangan. Hindi nila hiningi, at pangalawa hindi sila sure kung maiimplement nila dahil wala nga sa plano nila ‘yung mga project na to,” he explained, adding that it was in the budget version of the House and Senate but was only discovered now.
(It not really thay the DPWH doesn’t need it, they did not ask for it. Second, they are not sure if they can implement the projects because such are not in their plans.)
The P53 billion will also be scrutinized by the bicameral conference on the General Appropriations Bill, Andaya said.
The fund in question, he said, would also be tackled by the House committee on appropriations on its Tuesday inquiry. /gsg
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