Govt identifying uncommitted funds of agencies to augment COVID-19 budget

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. IMAGE from the PCOO Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — The government is on the lookout for “uncommitted” funds in the 2020 national budget to be used to help augment its cash allotment for the COVID-19 health crisis.

In an online press briefing Monday, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has ordered agencies and departments to identify uncommitted funds in their respective appropriations that may be diverted into the government’s war chest against the effects of COVID-19.

Roque announced this as President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic team revealed that the government has already spent P352.7 billion out of the P397-billion fund Congress has set aside in response to the pandemic.

Roque said the executive branch can seek supplemental budget from Congress if uncommitted funds identified by April 30 are not enough.

“Hihingi lang tayo ng authority from Congress. Dahil meron tayong Saligang Batas, no public fund can be spent without the approval of Congress,” he stressed.

(We will just ask for the authority of Congress. Because the Constitution clearly says: no public fund can be spent without the approval of Congress.)

Duterte last month signed the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which authorized him to realign and use the unused appropriations and savings in the executive branch to programs responding to the national health emergency.

But the President earlier asked Congress to authorize the use of additional funds for COVID-19 response, saying the government’s resources for this purpose have depleted.

Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson said the government should consider realigning some P84 billion worth of “pork insertions” of several lawmakers in the P4.1-trillion 2020 budget.

Lacson said the questionable appropriations were lodged in certain state agencies, such as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), by members of the House of Representatives and some of his colleagues in the Senate.

However, Roque said it is up to the line agencies if they would realign the budget for the projects to help cushion the impact of the new coronavirus pandemic.

“Hindi po DBM ang magdedesisyon sa realignment kundi ‘yung line departments. So pagdating po sa mga proyekto ng mga Senador at Kongresista, e pinauubaya na po namin yan kay (DPWH) Sec. (Mark) Villar dahil karamihan naman po ng mga proyektong yan ay nasa DPWH,” he said.

(It’s not for the DBM to decide whether to realign funds for specific projects but for the line department themselves. When it comes to projects of lawmakers, we will let Sec. Mark Villar to decide since the majority of the projects were lodged to the budget of DPW.)

JPV