By David Cagahastian
THE Duterte administration is proposing to spend P890.9 billion in infrastructure projects for 2017, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said on July 14.
Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the increase in infrastructure spending for 2017 will come from some items prepared by the previous administration, which were slashed by the DBM’s ongoing review of the 2017 budget.
The P890.9 billion in proposed infrastructure spending is higher than 5 percent of the GDP, which the previous administration estimated to be equivalent to P836 billion for this year.
Data from the DBM showed that spending on infrastructure has increased over the last five years. It recorded infrastructure spending already at P760 billion for this year, from P165 billion in 2010. Registered disbursements on infrastructure and other capital outlays last year was at P436 billion, which was said to have contributed to the 13-percent growth in total national government disbursements.
Among the items Diokno said would have decreased allocation in the administration’s version of its budget proposal to Congress is the so-called Bottom-up Budgeting (BuB) projects. The BuB projects were touted by the previous administration as its way of allowing grassroots communities to participate in the budget-making process.
Diokno said only projects intended for fourth-class, fifth-class and sixth-class municipalities would be retained under the 2017 budget proposal. BuB projects proposed by cities and higher-class municipalities would be excluded because of the “political” nature of the budget allocations, Diokno explained.
The Duterte administration will propose a P3.0018-trillion national budget for 2017, or 11.6 percent higher than this year’s approved budget.
More roads
DIOKNO said the infrastructure projects eyed by the Duterte administration are mostly projects that will improve transportation, such as improvements on the road network. There would be a moratorium on constructing new buildings for government offices, he added.
“We’re putting all new buildings on hold. For me, in terms of seniority, roads are more senior than nice offices,” Diokno said, referring to the priority put by the government on roads rather than on new offices.
He said the government plans to establish a government center in just one place to make it easier for government agencies to coordinate with each other.
“I have in mind one government center where, if you want an interagency meeting, you can just step out of your office and walk,” Diokno said. “That could help ease the traffic.”
Antipoverty programs
THE Duterte administration would also keep the Conditional Cash-Transfer (CCT) Program of the Aquino administration.
Diokno said the DBM proposes to keep the funding of the CCT Program at around the same level as allocated for the program this year.
The proposed funding of P54.9 billion for the said program, however, is about P10 billion lower than the average of P64 billion allocated by the Aquino administration.
Diokno said the Duterte administration would also reduce the “wastage” in the implementation of the conditional transfer program. He added the government will plug leaks resulting from the inaccurate targeting of beneficiaries.
“The [CCT] program will be retained at the present level, but we’ll reduce the wastage, because there are some who don’t deserve to be in that list, and there are some who should be in that list but are not there.”
No pork
DIOKNO confirmed there were requests by congressmen to the various departments of the government for funding for their pet projects in their districts. However, he said such practice is not akin to the previous practice of allocating pork-barrel funds for legislators.
“If a particular congressman thinks that it’s his role to bring projects to his district, then we consider that during the budget preparation, because, between a district engineer who is not elected and a congressman who is elected, the congressman has a better right to request for funding,” Diokno said.
He said, however, that the request for funding for the pet projects of legislators is coursed through the departments, which will turn over such requested projects to the DBM.
(With Rea Cu)