Palace warns: Reenacted budget bad for solons’ reelection bid

The Palace on Thursday warned that the bid of lawmakers seeking reelection in the May midterm elections may be affected should the government end up operating on a reenacted national budget because of the lack of agreement in Congress over the proposed 2019 national budget.

At a news briefing, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said voters may not take kindly to the failure of Congress to produce a new budget.

“I think the citizens of this country, especially the voters [in the] forthcoming election will not take it lightly if there is no new budget because that will affect many projects of the government,” Panelo said.

He cited the bridges and roads that will not be constructed because of the lack of budget and said that these will affect people’s lives.

Asked if this would impact on the chances of reelection among lawmakers, Panelo said, “I’m sure if people suffer, all will be affected.”

The Palace official also expressed reservations about allowing Congress to handle allocations.

“Because we’re always hostaged by their squabbles,” he told reporters.

Panelo was referring to the impasse between the Senate and the House on the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget which had been ratified by both chambers but not yet signed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III.  The senators accused the House of realigning some of the allocations in the measure even after they had already ratified the budget.

Panelo reiterated that the Senate and the House should resolve the matter following their meeting with President Duterte on Tuesday, which did not produce any consensus.

Panelo said the Senate and the House should just go to court to resolve whether an unconstitutional act has been committed in the House’s version of the budget.

“If there is something wrong with the procedures, why don’t they go to the courts so they can know,” he said.