GOVERNMENT programs for calendar year 2021 will go as as planned despite some vetoed provisions by President Rodrigo Duterte.
On December 28, 2020, President Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11518, also known as the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. The P4.506 trillion national budget is designed to boost the government’s response and recovery efforts in addressing the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To ensure efficient use of public funds ,provisions which do not relate to particular appropriations, of which would effectively amend the Constitution, or any existing laws were subjected to direct veto. Specifically, the President directly vetoed 13 special provisions and placed 45 general provisions under conditional implementation.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Wendel Avisado, nevertheless, assured the public that most government projects will continue to be implemented as planned.
“Wala pong maaantala. Yun pong provisional implementation ay, in short, yan po ay for later release,” he said.
The budget chief also said that the DBM is coordinating with different government agencies to ensure the timely and quick release of their respective budget allotments. He also expressed the budget agency’s readiness to quickly act upon budget requests from agencies who will promptly submit their respective budget documents.
“… Amin naman pong ipagbibigay alam sa lahat ng mga ahensya ng pamahalaan patungkol dito sa bagong budgetary items na nailatag sa GAA at ire-require namin sila na magsubmit ng Revised Agency Performance Target… among other supporting documents, as may be applicable, like yung request for issuance of SARO and NCA,” Avisado said.
He also said that the budget agency will make sure that there will be an efficient use of public funds, adherence to laws, rules, and regulations, as well as shared fiscal responsibility in the implementation of the budget.
“Dahil sabi ng pangulo, titignan nalang natin yung mga projects na naihain at ayon sa priorities ng gobyerno. May kakayanan na rin ang ahensya or departamento na mag-implement sa loob ng isang taon,” he said.