Villafuerte clarifies: 2020 budget typo not on Kennon Road rehab project

MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. clarified Wednesday that he was not referring to the P500 million Kennon road rehabilitation project as the one with a typographical error under the proposed 2020 national budget.

“The Php15M I referred to in the ANC interview with Karen Davila as the typographical error was based on the Php15M mentioned in the Inquirer article dated October 07, 2019 headlined as: Lacson slams P15M ‘cut and paste’ budget proposal for road improvement,” Villafuerte said in a letter sent to INQUIRER.net.

The P15-million program, described as “requesting for the improvement of a road…”, was intended for a province in Cagayan Valley, according to Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who flagged the project.

READ: Lacson slams P15M ‘cut and paste’ budget proposal for road improvement

The Camarines Sur 2nd District representative said the lapse emanated from the National Expenditure Program, which the Department of Budget and Management submitted to Congress.

In an interview with ANC’s “Headstart” earlier in the day, Villafuerte said a portion of the proposed P4.1 trillion 2020 national budget that Lacson had questioned was just a typographical error.

“Kasi meron syang pi-noint out na cut and paste na amount, P15 million in Baguio. But sabi ko nga out of 3,500-document ‘yun lang ‘yung nahanap n’ya na typo, it shows that maganda ‘yung budget,” Villafuerte said.

(He pointed out a cut-and-paste amount of P15 million in Baguio. But if that’s the only thing he flagged as typo out of the 3,500-page document then I think the budget is good.)

Program host Davila asked Villafuerte if he was referring to the Kennon Road project, and the congressman answered in the affirmative.

READ: P500-M Kennon road rehab project just a typo – Villafuerte

Edited by KGA