Villar: Reenacted budget ‘bad for economy, employment’

Senator Cynthia Villar. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — A reenacted national budget is bad for the economy and employment, reelectionist Senator Cynthia Villar said Thursday.

“Ayoko ng reenacted budget. That’s bad for the economy. That’s bad for employment,” Villar said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel.

The government has been operating on a reenacted budget since the start of 2019 after Congress failed to pass the P3.757 trillion national budget in 2018 because of questionable allocations and alleged pork barrel insertions.

Villar said the budget should be passed as soon as possible “for the sake of the employment of the people and for the sake of our economic growth.”

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief Ernesto Pernia recently said the country’s economic growth would dip to its lowest in eight years if the government operates on a reenacted budget for the entire year.

READ: Neda: GDP growth to hit 8-year low if reenacted budget extends until yearend

Meanwhile, Malacañang said President Rodrigo Duterte was set to sign the 2019 General Appropriations Act 2019 on Monday, April 15.

READ: Duterte to sign 2019 national budget on April 15

However, it remains unclear if Duterte would veto allocations and the last minute realignments questioned by the Senate, including the controversial P75 billion worth of programs under the Local Infrastructure Program of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) reportedly realigned by the House of Representatives. /cbb