President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed 4 items in the P3.7 trillion national budget for 2018 that he signed last week, according to his message to lawmakers.
Duterte said the vetoed items “do not relate to some particular appropriation and are introduced with the purpose of amending existing laws and rules.”
The President excluded the grant of monitoring expenses for the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, saying its members were are authorized to receive honoraria or per diems for official functions.
Duterte vetoed a provision that prohibits the collection of fees on the retention or re-acquisition of Philippine citizenship. He said government agencies had “inherent authorities” to impose “reasonable charges” for services.
The President likewise vetoed the provision on the Department of Education’s use of school maintenance and other operating expenses for items that may be classified as capital outlay.
The fourth item vetoed by the President involves the use of income of the Energy Regulatory Commission to augment its operational requirements.
The ERC should instead make efficient use of its budget and P413.6 million in automatic appropriations, Duterte said.
D. Placido, abs-cbn
