Cayetano on return of infra fund vetoed by Duterte: Very difficult to promise

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano. INQUIRER.net file photo

MANILA, Philippines — The multibillion-peso infrastructure fund vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte in the 2019 national budget might not be reinstated in the spending plan for 2020, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano admitted Tuesday.

Cayetano said some lawmakers raised this issue again during the majority caucus held before the start of plenary debates on the proposed P4.1 trillion budget for 2020.

Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab, chair of the appropriations committee, already said the requests would be “difficult” to grant.

READ: Difficult to grant budget hike requests of district congressmen for 2020 — Ungab

Cayetano said they designated Northern Samar 1st District Rep. Paul Daza to coordinate with those House members who had requests, while Construction Workers’ Solidarity Rep. Romeo Momo Sr. would coordinate with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“Depende muna sa feedback noon [coordinations]… But you know, it’s very difficult to promise them anything now, kasi… ngayon na nakalatag na, saan mo ibabawas ‘yung P60 billion?” Cayetano explained.

[It would depend on the feedback from those coordinations… But you know, it’s very difficult to promise them anything now, because now that everything’s been laid out, where would we get the P60 billion?]

“This is you know, a problem that we just have to be honest with the congressmen that it might not be solvable in this budget,” he added.

The President signed the 2019 budget on April 15, 2019, but vetoed some P95-billion infrastructure appropriations that were “not within the programmed priorities.”

Cayetano said this issue was on top of the “perennial” requests of other lawmakers for additional infrastructure fund for their districts, which he called “normal,” especially for districts in non-highly urbanized areas.0

“Totoo naman na may mga distrito, for example, na below 500 million ‘yung regular infrastructure or local infrastructure program dun at meron naman iba na mahigit P2 billion,” he said.

[It’s true that there are districts, for example, that have below P500 million regular or local infrastructure programs and there are others that have more than P2 billion.]

These requests would have to be assessed vis-a-vis the priorities of the national government, and should be introduced and itemized during the period of amendments, the congressman added.

READ: 2020 budget ‘pork-less,’ House leaders assure

The House will hold plenary debates on the General Appropriations Bill starting Monday until September 20, from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The chamber hopes to pass the expenditure plan on final reading by October 4. /jpv

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