THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Thursday welcomed the subpoena issued by the House of Representatives, in line with clarifying the alleged anomalies under the proposed 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
In a statement issued on Thursday, the DBM welcomed the subpoena signed by House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, ordering Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno to appear before the House Committee on Appropriations hearing at 10 a.m.on February 8 to clarify alleged anomalies in the 2019 national budget.
On Wednesday, it was reported that P75 billion worth of projects were inserted under the 2019 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which was said to be ordered by Budget Undersecretary Amenah F. Pangandaman without reporting to the DBM.
“We have received information of new allegations against the DBM. These accusations are without basis and are meant to discredit the good reputation of this administration’s DBM as one of the most transparent and credible institutions in the world,” the DBM said.
The additional P75 billion worth of projects were pointed out to comprise the allocation for the DPWH of P555 billion for the year under the 2019 national budget. It is being questioned by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rolando G. Andaya Jr.
The DBM explained that the during a Cabinet meeting on July 9, 2018, President Duterte approved the 2019 budget which already included the P555-billion allocation for the DPWH, adding that the printing of the National Expenditure Program (NEP) was then undertaken on July 10, 2018.
“Given these facts and the misconceptions about the process, we take any subpoena from the House as an opportunity to clarify all these matters not only to the public, but also for the official records of House,” the DBM added.
During a house inquiry on Wednesday, DPWH division chief for programming, Milagros Manaysay, pointed out that their submitted budget request for 2019 to the DBM did not include the P75 billion worth of projects.
Furthermore, Gerard Longoria, a DPWH employee, said he was the one who worked on consolidating the list of projects totaling P75 billion and submitted the list to the DBM on July 12, 2018.
The DBM told reporters in a text message that Diokno and Pangandaman will be present at the House of Representatives on Friday (February 8, 2019) for the House Appropriations hearing.
On Tuesday, Diokno pointed out that there is no such thing as “pork” in the DBM, as the department followed laws in the use of funds and declaration of savings.
Diokno said it is “not true” that the DBM utilized P370.1 billion worth of appropriations in 2017 in line with the accusation of Andaya, as this has been reverted to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
The DBM explained that the P370 billion was computed by deducting P18.3-billion appropriations, which were extended for 2018 from P388.4 billion in unreleased appropriations and unobligated allotments.
Due to Congress’s failure to pass the budget by year-end, the government is operating under a reenacted budget at least for the first quarter.
The government has proposed to use a cash-based budgeting system for 2019, veering away from the previous obligation-based budget system with a proposed P3.753-trillion budget for this year.