Duterte to veto parts of national budget P4.5-T 2021: spokesperson

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte will “surely” veto various parts of the 2021 P4.5 trillion national budget, his spokesman said on Friday, a week before the chief executive signs the spending bill.

Some budget items were “recommended for veto,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque told Palace reporters in a telephone interview.

“There will definitely be a veto message,” he said.

(There will surely be a veto message).

The presidential spokesman declined to confirm whether the items to be vetoed were the questionable projects previously noted by Senator Panfilo Lacson.

“I don’t have the freedom to discuss what these elements are,” Roque said.

(I am not at liberty to discuss what these items are).

Lacson had criticized House lawmakers for withholding, and even increasing, some infrastructure projects worth P63 billion, at the expense of items most needed during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as vaccines and the National Broadband Plan. .

“I do not agree with the sense of priorities,” the senator previously said.

(I do not agree with the sense of priorities).

Lacson initially wanted to formally write to Malacañang to offer help in identifying “unreasonable cuts” and realignments under the 2021 spending bill, but later withdrew his plan, saying he did not want to impose himself on the president.

Under the law, the president can reject some amendments that lawmakers inserted into the national budget, but he is not authorized to reallocate funds to other projects.

Duterte is expected to sign the 2021 national budget on December 28, 2020.

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