Duterte blames Congress feud over budget for low GDP

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte said the country’s gross domestic product for the first quarter of the year was affected by Congress’ bickering over the budget that led to underspending.

But now that the P3.7 trillion budget for 2019 has been signed and funds are available, the President said these would be given to all regions, regardless of political affiliations, he said in a speech in Davao City on Friday evening.

Tne President signed the General Appropriations Act for 2019 in April, but vetoed P95 billion worth of items, including post-ratification changes that the House of Representatives had made.

The Senate had objected to the post-ratification amendments, leading to a tussle with the House of Representatives that held up the submission of the budget bill to Malacañang.

Reenacted budget

As a result, the government had to operate on a reenacted budget from January to March.

The country’s GDP growth stood at 5.6 percent in the first quarter of the year, a four year low.

In his speech, the President noted that the GDP went down because the government was unable to spend for new projects.

“So our GDP will really decrease. We lost a lot, maybe around billions. If there are no transactions, money will not circulate. The projects of the congressmen were delayed because I vetoed the budget,” he said.

It was a difficult decision, he said.

“The Senate was aggrieved. So to make it fair for everyone, I vetoed it all. That is why when I have the money, I’ll decide how to distribute it. But I’d like to assure everybody that all throughout the Philippines, the money will be divided by regions and equally as needed. As equally as needed,” he said.

Budget for everyone

The funds that would go to an area would depend on the size of the projects there, he added. And they could be sure the money would be given.

“For as long as I am the President, the budget will be distributed to everyone,” he said.

“This won’t affect the other parties and the opposition. It doesn’t mean anything to me because I can’t run for other positions anymore. So the budget will be released to everyone and there will be no complaints,” he added.