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BY GLENDA TAYONA
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Sunday, March 11, 2018
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ILOILO City – Secretary Benjamin Diokno of the Department of Budget and Management shrugged off claims that politics plays a hand in the allocation of budgets.
Diokno, who was in this city recently as one of the keynote speakers in a British trade mission, was asked by the press to comment on the allegation that budgets in areas of opposition lawmakers were being slashed.
“When you talk of budget, you don’t talk of politicians, you talk of areas. Lahat naman iyan binibigyan natin ng prayoridad,” Diokno said.
Department of Public Works and Highways regional director Wenceslao Leaño Jr. had said their Capiz 1st District Engineering Office, based in Roxas City, was given less than P100 million this year – way lower than its P1.6-billion budget in 2017.
The 1st District of Capiz is represented in the House by Emmanuel Billones, a member of the Liberal Party.
Diokno played down the matter. “OK lang iyong may slash. Parang equalizing din iyon,” he said.
The “historical pattern” of how much a certain area gets – for, say, infrastructure projects – was being factored in when coming up a new allocation, the Budget secretary said.
“In the past naman siguro nabiyayaan sila,” said Diokno. “Dapat talaga ini-evaluate mo kung ano na iyong available e. Halimbawa, 99 percent na ng roads sementado na, ano pa ilalagay mo doon?”
It may be recalled that, during a visit to Iloilo province on Jan. 18, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez threatened officials against the Duterte administration’s push for a federal system of government with a “zero budget.”
A few days later Alvarez claimed it was just a “joke.”/PN
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