Diokno: Andaya’s allegations vs me merely “illusory”

Written by Kaye Fe on

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(Eagle News)–Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno has refuted House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr.’s accusations against him, calling them “illusory.”

In a statement, Diokno said the “numbers are wrong and the narrative he’s selling is not grounded on facts.”

In the first place, according to Diokno, the Department of Budget and Management is “not involved in the implementation of projects and awarding of contracts.”

“Contracts are awarded to contractors after open and competitive bidding in accordance with the Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act,” he said, noting that the role of the DBM was “to set the budget ceiling for the line agencies and to evaluate whether their programs are aligned with the government’s priorities.”

As for Andaya’s allegations there were “insertions” in the Department of Public Works and Highways budget for 2019, Diokno said in the first place, these were not insertions.

He said the DPWH was also aware of the “adjustments.”

“Of the P652 billion budget proposal of the DPWH in 2019, P132.5 billion was for flood control projects (including foreign-assisted projects). In the 2019 National Expenditure Program, flood control projects by the DPWH totaled P114.3 billion (including foreign-assisted projects), well below its initial funding request for flood control structures,” Diokno said.

According to Diokno, the DBM is also “not privy to the breakdown of DPWH projects per district.”

He said it was the  DPWH, as an implementing agency, that “determines the specific project listing for the projects under each program and region.”

“The original budget proposal of the DPWH was P652 billion, not P488 billion as Congressman Andaya claimed in the Question Hour last Dec. 11, 2018. The DBM then initially approved P480.2 billion out of the P652 billion budget request of the DPWH. But in the final phase of budget preparation, the total public infrastructure budget was still short of the government’s commitment to disburse at least 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for infrastructure. This is why the budget of the DPWH was adjusted by P75.5 billion,” he said.

“Hence, in the 2019 National Expenditure Program, the total budget for the DPWH is P555.7 billion. This was presented and approved by the Cabinet in a meeting on July 9, 2018,” he added.

In the House committee on rules first hearing on alleged anomalies in the proposed national budget for 2019, Andaya accused Diokno of having a hand in  CT Leoncio Construction Corp., an alleged dummy firm employed by Aremar Construction Corp. owned by the in-laws of Diokno’s daughter, cornering government projects in Sorsogon.

Andaya hurled the allegations against Diokno  after Senator Panfilo Lacson said Camarines Sur, Andaya’s province, and a district in Pampanga, Speaker Gloria Arroyo’s, cornered “congressional insertions” in the House-proposed national budget for 2019.