2019 budget transparency improved House rating – Castro

MANILA, Philippines – House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro on Wednesday attributed the increase in the net satisfaction rating of the House of Representatives to their “efforts to become transparent” when it comes to the 2019 national budget.

“Political mudslinging will never be an obstacle as the House leadership always expects us to buckle down to work and do what we think is beneficial to all,” the Capiz 2nd district congressman said in a statement.

Capiz 2nd District Rep. Fredenil Castro of Capiz. INQUIRER.net / Jhoanna Ballaran

“We are energized to see that our citizens appreciate uprightness in our work and our efforts to become transparent on how every centavo will be spent,” he added.

The chamber got a record-high net satisfaction rating of +47 from the March 28-31 Social Weather Stations survey, where 61 percent of poll respondents said they were satisfied with the performance of the lower chamber and only 13 percent said otherwise.

This was a 7-point increase from House’s +40 rating in December 2018.

READ: SWS: Satisfaction rating ‘very good’ for Senate, ‘good’ for House

The delay in the passage of the 2019 General Appropriations Act was due to the exchange of “pork” allegations between the House and Senate.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the 2019 budget bill last April 15, but Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said the Chief Executive vetoed some P93.5 billion that was “not within the programmed priorities.”

READ: Duterte signs 2019 national budget; vetoes P95.3B  

House respects Duterte veto of P95.3-B infra funding – Castro

This came after Senate President Vicente Sotto III asked the President to veto some P75 billion worth of local infrastructure programs which he said was “unconstitutionally” realigned by the lower chamber after the budget bill was ratified on Feb 8.

READ: Sotto signs budget, seeks Duterte veto of House changes

House appropriations committee chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. had been insisting that they only itemized the amounts agreed upon during the bicameral conference committee phase of the budget process. /gsg