Health, public works, social welfare budgets to face Senate scrutiny
By Camille A. Aguinaldo
Reporter
THE SENATE will examine closely the proposed budget of three government agencies once the proposed P3.757 billion national budget is transmitted to the chamber by the House of Representatives this week, Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III said on Sunday.
“DoH (Department of Health), DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) budgets,” Mr. Sotto told BusinessWorld in a text message, when asked which items of the proposed budget the Senate will scrutinize.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) slashed the budget of the DoH to P71 billion under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) from the P107.3 billion last year.
The 2019 budget allocation for the Health Facilities Enhancement Programs (HFEP) also fell to P50 million from the P30.26 billion previously.
Senators have raised concerns over the budget cut, saying this may affect the implementation of the universal health care program next year and may lead to job losses among government health workers.
Unsettled road right of way issues also hound the proposed budget of the DPWH for 2019. Senator Panfilo M. Lacson has said he may propose the deletion of the P16 billion right of way appropriations in the 2019 budget if the DPWH fails to explain and address the unsettled claims.
The total proposed budget of the DPWH is P555.7 billion for 2019, lower than the P637 billion previously.
As for the DSWD budget, Mr. Sotto said senators are expected to scrutinize the “proper disposition of the PPP (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino) programs” under the agency.
It was revealed during the Senate budget hearing of the DSWD last October that two million Filipino families had not received their monthly allowances under the agency’s PPP program in December 2017. Unclaimed cash grants were also raised.
A total of P173.3 billion has been allocated to the DSWD in the 2019 budget, higher than the P141 billion previously.
For his part, Mr. Lacson on Sunday said he may repeat his previous actions during last year’s budget deliberations and pursue the deletion of items in the proposed 2019 budget, which, as he claimed, remains “pork”-riddled.
“We will study it and let’s see if (it’s) just like before with the P8 billion parked in DPWH, then it was implemented for ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao). I questioned that on the floor because that was not allowed because it is an organic act….What the Senate did, we removed it and placed it in the free tuition,” he said in a radio interview.
The House of Representatives has yet to transmit to the Senate the proposed national budget, which the chamber passed on third reading last Nov. 20.
The Senate has only nine session days left to scrutinize the proposed budget before it goes on break on Dec. 14. Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri said they targeting to pass the crucial measure on Dec. 12, but he also raised the possibility that deliberations may extend to January.
Mr. Lacson said he received initial information, which he has yet to validate, that representatives in the lower chamber received P60 million, which was sourced from the P51 billion originally allocated to the DPWH but was realigned to other agencies.
“Even if they say there is no pork, it’s clear that there is pork. The initial information, subject to validation, is that all congressmen were given P60 million,” he said.
“But that would have to pass by the Senate for us to find. Although I have initial figures that the House of Representatives changed, so we will validate this,” he added.