A resolution requesting the Senate to return to the House of Representatives the budget reform bill is going around the lower chamber, lawmakers confirmed on Thursday.
But a source, speaking in private, said the resolution was an 鈥渋ndirect way鈥� of Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo鈥檚 leadership 鈥渢o deliver a message to Malaca帽ang鈥� that 鈥渢hey are against the cash-based budget system鈥� of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
鈥淚t鈥檚 an indirect way to deliver a message to Malaca帽ang.聽Paramdam, by the GMA (Arroyo鈥檚 initials) leadership that they are against the CBBudget (cash-based budget); remember the bill was certified urgent by the Palace,鈥� the source said.
House appropriations committee chair Rep. Karlo Nograles also confirmed this.
鈥淢agiging聽implikasyon聽din聽po聽nitong聽pagbawi聽sa聽budget reform bill ay 鈥榶ung聽hindi聽pagsusuporta聽sa聽cash-based budgeting for 2019,鈥� he told reporters.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman has also confirmed the 鈥渕ultiparty-endorsed鈥� resolution.
Nograles earlier condemned the cash-based budgeting system of the DBM, which resulted in the slashed budgets of some key agencies.
READ:聽Nograles questions 鈥榤uch lower鈥� 2019 proposed national budget
A copy of the resolution a source sent to 黑料社 showed that the House is recalling House Bill 7302 or the Budget Reform Act from the Senate 鈥渋n order for the House of Representatives to introduce further perfecting amendments thereto.鈥�
鈥淣apagkasunduan ng myembro ng聽kamara聽na聽bawiin聽ang聽suporta聽sa聽budget reform bill at鈥β爄recall聽ang聽budget reform bill聽sa聽Senado para tuluyang聽pag-aralan聽muli ng House of Representatives,鈥� Nograles told reporters.
Nograles said they are recalling the budget reform bill because it would result in the institutionalization of the cash-based budgeting system.
鈥溾�榊ung cash-based budgeting na ito, ito聽鈥榶ung parang magiging resulta ng budget reform bill鈥� Sample ng magiging implikasyon ng pagpasa ng budget reform bill,鈥� he explained.
鈥淎ng magiging implikasyon pala nito (cash-based system) ay slash, slash, slash,鈥� Nograles said, noting that they want to revert back to obligations-based budgeting.
The lower chamber approved HB 7302 on final reading last March 20, 2018, and it was consequently transmitted to the Senate on March 22.
Members of the House continue to strongly oppose DBM鈥檚聽proposed 2019 cash-based national budget, lamenting that ongoing projects of some departments and their respective districts might get derailed.
READ:聽Lawmakers question DBM鈥檚 shift to cash-based budget system
During the Department of Public Works and Highways鈥� (DPWH) budget defense before the House committee on appropriations on Thursday, Lagman rallied all his colleagues to 鈥渦nite in supporting a realistic budget of the DPWH in order聽to make a truism of the oft-repeated invocation that infrastructure is the engine of growth and help pursue the government鈥檚 鈥楤BB鈥� (Build, Build, Build) agenda.鈥�
Lagman called for the restoration of聽the cuts and augmentation in the DPWH 2019 budget, noting that it was one of the major casualties of the DBM鈥檚 cash-based budgeting 鈥渨ith聽a slash amounting to P 93.343 billion.鈥�
鈥淥ne of the major casualties of the budgetary calisthenics now known as 鈥渃ash-based budgeting鈥� is the DPWH with a slash amounting to P93.343 billion broken down as follows: P90.182 billion鈥� Capital Outlay and P3.781 billion 鈥� Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses,鈥� the lawmaker said.
The reduction, he said, includes a drastic slash on locally funded projects.聽 /muf