House submits P22-B supplemental budget

House of Representatives. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Leaders of the House of Representatives submitted for approval before yearend a P22.467 billion supplemental budget for unpaid or unfinished projects of the outlawed Priority Development Assistance Fund and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

In House Resolution 5237, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the government has piled up unpaid obligations to the contractors of completed projects that he said were left hanging after the Supreme Court declared the pork barrel fund system unconstitutional last year.

“The payment by the government of these obligations is a recognition of its commitment to pay upon performance of the undertaking by the supplier or contractor to implement the projects covered,” Belmonte said.

He said that the government was duty bound to pay the contractors and suppliers as it had benefited from these projects.

Belmonte said this was the same case with DAP projects, supposedly an economic stimulus program through the juggling of allocated funds from slow-moving projects to high-impact projects, which was also partly declared illegal by the high court.

He said the DAP projects, like the coconut insect extermination program and the rehabilitation of the urban railways, were still deemed necessary and important.

HR 5237, which was also signed by Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II and House committee on appropriations and Davao Rep. Isidro T. Ungab, listed down 26 projects for extra funding in this year’s budget.

These projects and the corresponding amounts are: P7.999 billion for the National Housing Authority’s (NHA) “Yolanda” housing projects; P2.833 billion for the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) transformation of the police; P1.942 billion for Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) update of poverty reduction targets; P1.849 billion for the Department of Public Works and Highways’ unpaid obligations for finished infrastructure projects; P1.5 billion for the DSWD’s emergency shelter for Yolanda victims; P977 million for the Light Rail Transit system’s rehabilitation; P957 million for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Metro Rail Transit 3;

P803 million for the Bureau of Treasury’s capital outlay; P715 million for the Supreme Court’s enterprise information plan; P350 million for the replacement of Bohol’s condemned provincial building; P340 million for the Philippine Coconut Authority’s emergency action plan for “coco-lisap”; P300 million for the Department of Science and Technology’s Digi E-Fund project; P286 million for the NHA’s North Triangle relocation; P240 million for the completion of development assistance for Quezon province; P210 million for the retrofitting of the Presidential Managament Staff’s office building;

P199 million for the DILG’s purchase of 33 firetrucks; Philippine Fisheries Development Authority’s construction of lighthouses and seawalls; P178 million for the Metro Manila Development Authority’s closure of the San Mateo landfill; P117 million for the construction of the VIP lounge of the Mactan-Cebu international airport; P300 million for the Bureau of Treasury’s budgetary shortfalls; P40 million for the rental of office space of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies; P32.6 million for the National Electrification Administration’s substation in Albay; P32.224 million for the Department of Finance’s renovation of the secretary’s property and P11.176 million for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ hiring of 294 former rebels as forest guards.

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