The House Committee on Appropriations is right on schedule with its deliberations on the different agencies’ proposed budgets for the year 2018, its chairman Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said Sunday.
In a radio interview, Nograles said his panel has conducted three weeks worth of budget-scrutinizing, leaving just a few more departments before the Committee wraps it up.
“Halos natapos na namin ang lahat eh. Ang naiwan na lang, Department of Transportation (DOTr), Office of the President (OP),” said Nograles, who has been very visible and active in all hearings.
The other departments scheduled for budget hearings at the Committee on Appropriations include Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Justice (DOJ), the Ombudsman, and Commission on Elections (COMELEC). The Chairman also mentioned two agencies whose budget presentations were deferred that will be tackled this week.
“Yong Department of Agriculture (DA) pati ang Department of Information and Communications Technology o DICT. Pero i-schedule na rin namin ito sa…siguro yong isa ilalagay ko sa August 24, yong isa ilalagay ko sa August 23 para matapos na,” he said.
Nograles expressed confidence that his Committee will be able to finish scrutinizing the entirety of the proposed P3.767-trillion budget for 2018 by August 24.
“With the participation naman ng mga congressmen, I think, yeah by August 24 dapat tapos na kami. At least sa Committee level,” he said.
This means that the House of Representatives (HOR) will be able to begin plenary discussions on the proposed 2018 National Expenditure Program (NEP) by September 4, which is right on track with the Nograles panel’s plan.
The NEP was personally submitted by President Rodrigo Duterte to Congress after his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24.
The nearly 300-strong HOR, which has the power of the purse, treats it as its first duty each year to pass the proposed budget of the upcoming year. This ensures the smooth delivery of the administration’s projects and programs.
Nograles sees heated plenary debate on PNP budget due to Kian’s case
House Appropriations Committee Chairman, Davao City 1st district Rep. Karlo Nograles expects heated debate among his colleagues once the proposed P170.7 billion budget of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for 2018 reaches the plenary.
Nograles, in a radio interview, said this is due to the current controversies surrounding the Philippine National Police (PNP), which is under the DILG. In particular, this has to do with the recent spate of killings of drug suspects in police operations.
Among those slain the past few days was Kian Loyd de los Santos, a Grade 11 student in Caloocan City. The student’s kin has denied his involvement in the illegal drug trade.
A huge portion of the Department’s proposed appropriation–some P131 billion–is allocated to the PNP. As such, Nograles said he is anticipating calls to reduce the PNP budget over these alleged abuses.
“Ine-expect ko pagdating sa plenaryo, it might come out as an issue. Pag-uusapan naman natin don itong mga panawagan na bawasan ang pondo ng PNP. So ayokong pangunahan kung ano ang pag-uusapan namin sa plenary,” Nograles said in the interview.
It should be noted that the Appropriations panel concluded its deliberation on the DILG budget Thursday, a day after De los Santos was killed.
“Syempre ang magiging defense ng PNP is kung itong ginagawa natin, we should punish those responsible for ..sa nangyari kay Kian and all the other…kung meron man…victims ng accidental shooting or itong pang-aabuso,” Nograles said.
“Yong mga nag abuso ay mananagot but the abuses ng cops na ito, ng mga pulis na nang abuso should not hinder the campaign of the government to eradicate drugs in the streets. So ina-anticipate ko na ganon ang magiging defense,” Nograles further said.
Incidentally, the National Police Commission’s (Napolcom) performance as the independent investigator of cases involving alleged police abuses was also tackled during the panel hearing. The Napolcom is an attached agency of the DILG.
Napolcom Chairman Rogelio Casurao even appealed for help from the congressmen to streamline the disciplinary system for cops in order to make them more effective.
For his part, Nograles said President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign must still be pursued even as authorities punish rogue and abusive police officers.
“Kung hindi antin i-pursige yong anti-drugs campaign ni Presidente, the worst thing that can happen is syempre lumaganap na naman ang iligal na droga sa bansa,” Nograles said.
“But that’s not to say we do not give justice to the victims ng abuses ng ating mga kapulisan. If found guilty at kailangan kasuhan, dapat naman talaga na kasuhan. At yong mga dapat imbestigahan, yong mga pulis na dapat imbestigahan…mga rogue cops, abusive cops, dapat naman talaga ipagpatuloy ang imbestigasyon,” Nograles added.
Duterte brings stability to PHL economy–Nograles
President Rodrigo Duterte is not getting enough credit for the stability he brings to the Philippine economy, House Appropriations Committee Chair and Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said.
Nograles was alluding to the 6.5-percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) posted by the country in the second quarter of 2017, which incidentally rounded up Duterte’s first full year in office.
For Nograles, this proves that the Chief Executive–who critics look down on for being “all talk” and “populist”–has the managerial chops to bring the Philippines to the next level.
“No doubt about it, the 6.5 percent growth rate is solid proof that President Duterte is applying the proper approach in dealing with the country’s deeply-rooted problems,” said Nograles.
“The latest growth in GDP has placed the Philippines ahead of other Southeast Asian nations that have released their figures for the second quarter. The country is now next to China in terms of economic growth,” Nograles underscored.
The second quarter figure is an improvement from the 6.4 percent growth posted during the first quarter of the year.
“For those who are still waiting for the Philippines to go on an economic downward spiral so they may claim that Duterte is a failure, don’t hold your breath. It ain’t happening,” Nograles said.
“As we all know, the President did everything to earn the confidence of the economic sector in particular, and the public in general. Those are the bigger reasons behind the surge in our productivity as a country,” he noted.
The Philippines achieved the growth rate amid a depreciating peso.
Nograles cited the agriculture sector and Duterte’s finance team for their contributions in boosting the country’s GDP performance.
“I also give credit to the agriculture officials for lifting agricultural production to an impressive 6.18 percent growth rate, and the finance team of the President for accelerating government expenditures from 4 percent to 5.6 percent in the past two quarters to fuel the record GDP,” he said.
Solon scores LTFRB inaction vs passenger refusal and fare overcharging of Grab
Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Partylist Rep. Jericho Nograles said that while the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board(LTFRB) has been talking tough about taxi drivers who refuse to take passengers and those demand extra for their trips, it is doing nothing on ride-hailing companies who do same the “high-tech way.”
Nograles said with the suspension of Uber which was his regular mode of transport, he decided Friday morning to use Grab to bring him to the airport. To his disappointment, he was refused three times and at least two Grab drivers cancelled on him before one finally decided to take him.
“This to me is a clear case of passenger refusal which is considered a violation by the LTFRB. They’ve been talking tough about imposing severe punishments against taxi drivers who refuse passengers but what about those who do the same through our ride-hailing applications? Mas high-tech lang sa Grab pero di ba pareho lang na passenger refusal yan? ” Nograles said.
Nograles related that since it’s taking too long for his Grab car to pick him up, he decided to cancel his request and get a regular taxi to take him to the airport only to learn afterwards that Grab charged P318 from his credit card.
Apart from charging fares even after a cancellation, Nograles noted that Grab is also equally liable for overcharging fares because of their so-called “auto-surge” which has gone out of control after LTFRB decided to suspend Uber.
He noted that so many patrons of ride-hailing platforms like Uber and Grab has been complaining that their fares have nearly tripled because of auto-surge, a system allows ride-hailing applications to automatically increase fares on the basis of passenger demand and traffic situation.
“There are times when Grab would charge as much as P800 just for a 20-kilometer ride because of the surge. This is already hold-up. This is no different from a taxi driver who would demand an extra on top of their meter fare. I don’t know if LTFRB even knows this is considered as overcharging,” Nograles said.
He said that charging a full fare even after a cancellation should be also considered a form of overcharging.
Nograles said that while he understands the need to charge extra especially during rush hour, there must be an automatic cap to ensure that that the riding public would be protected from overcharging.
“If there is an auto-surge, there should also be an auto-cap on fare prices as well,” Nograles said.
Nograles said that these issues of passenger refusal and auto-surge will be among the concerns that he will bring up once the House Committee on Transportation starts deliberating on his proposed House Bill 6009 which seeks to provide a legal framework for the operation of Tranport Network Companies (TNCs) like Grab and Uber.
Appro panel terminates ‘blockbuster’ DPWH budget presentation
House Appropriations Chair Davao City Karlo Nograles said his panel is committed to ensuring the availability of funds to support President Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” program through the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) because this would have cascading effects on the country’s economy and the people’s overall well-being.
In its budget presentation Wednesday, DPWH officials led by Secretary Mark Villar provided the members of Congress a glimpse of the Duterte administration’s massive infrastructure plan to usher in the golden age of infrastructure.
The DPWH is asking for P643.252-B budget for 2018.
Nograles said that the hearing was long and tedious but still managed to terminate it after nearly six hours of interpellation by members of the appropriations panel. A total of 53 congressmen listed to interpellate Villar and other DPWH officials on issues ranging from big ticket projects lined up for funding, down to parochial concerns like missing street lights.
“It’s a blockbuster hearing. It’s probably one of the biggest so far since we began our hearings three weeks ago in terms of the number of interpellators. Nevertheless we managed to terminate the hearing and did not have to stay until the wee hours ,” Nograles said.
“I think that our colleagues are largely satisfied with the presentation and explanations of Secretary Villar and the DPWH and this means that we remain on track with our schedules,” Nograles said adding that except for the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Information and Communications Technology which were deferred for additional hearings, all the other budget presentations of the other departments have terminated and are ready for pre-plenary deliberations.
Nograles noted that with at least P8 trillion in public works funds being eyed to be spent from 2017 to 2022, the Philippines is expected to fully modernize its infrastructure such as road networks, mass transport facilities, flood control systems, educational facilities, tourism hubs and other focus areas of the DPWH in line with its “Build Build Build” program.
Nograles said that his panel is committed to support President Duterte’s vision to modernize Philippine infrastructure but it still has to scrutinize the DPWH budget to make sure that funds are used properly and judiciously.
“The devil is in the details so we will go through the smallest item in the DPWH budget to really make sure that the president’s Philippine Development Plan is not only adequately funded but also properly implemented,” Nograles said.
He noted that after so many years of being left with crumbs, Mindanao is finally getting its fair share of infrastructure funds with a total allocation of P174.130 billion for 2018. This represents 33% of the total public works spending programmed by the DPWH.
