DOTR realigning P 17B from budget to boost fund vs COVID-19

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is seeking approval to free up almost P17 billion from its budget to help bolster the national government’s new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response.

On Monday, the DOTr said it had submitted a list of projects for realignment amounting to some P16.9 billion. The realignment will need to be approved by the Department of Budget and Management.

Goddess Libiran, assistant secretary at the DOTr, said on Monday around 35 projects would be affected.

“The DOTr has only proposed to reallocate a portion of the budget of specific projects or items under programs that will not be used or disbursed within the year,” Libiran said in a text message.

This includes certain expenses for big-ticket infrastructure projects during the period that construction had stalled as a result of strict quarantine measures.

“By no means that these re-allocation of portion of the project funds constitute abandonment or scrapping of the projects entirely,” Libiran said.

With the passage of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, the government has moved to realign portions of the national budget to pay for social amelioration programs for vulnerable households, displaced workers and medical frontliners amid the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DOTr said it also remitted a total of P19.3 billion in dividends to the Bureau of Treasury as of April 7 this year.

These included P6 billion from the Manila International Airport Authority, P6 billion from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, P5 billion from the Philippine Ports Authority and P1 billion from the Light Rail Transit Authority. INQ