Unable to fully spend the current national budget amid the need for cash to finance the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, government will be given the whole of 2022 to disburse the unspent 2021 allocations.
This, after the House of Representatives registered a vote of 168 for and six against to the third and final reading approval of House Bill 10373 that proposes to extend the availability of the 2021 appropriations in 2022, an election year.
Authored by ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Eric Go Yap, HB 10373 will allow government agencies to fully utilize the 2021 budget for the implementation of priority programs and projects.
Yap, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, said that as 2021 ends, there remains “programs, projects and activities” funded by the 2021 General Appropriations Act” that have not been implement but are “very much needed by the Filipino people.“ He pointed out that delay in the release and issuances of budget allocations for the projects were caused by disruptions in government operations brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In explaining her “no” vote, Gabriela Women’s Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas slammed the move to allow previous year’s unspent allocations to be disbursed during an election year.
She noted that extending the availability of previous year’s budget is becoming a regular occurrence.
“Incompetence at inefficiency ba ang problema? O, sinasadyang magsubi ng bilyun-bilyon para todo buhos ang release ng pondo sa susunod na taon - na mismong eleksyong 2022? (Are incompetence and inefficiency the problems? Or this setting aside of billions is deliberate in order to spend all the funds next year -right during the 2022 elections?”said Brosas.
“While the DBM (Department of Budget and Management, already issued obligational authority for P4.39 trillion of the P4.5 trillion budget, the year is ending with billions still undisbursed and unutilized in various agencies,” the opposition leader noted.