PALACE:Vetoed budget items ‘unconstitutional’home/News/Top Stories/Vetoed budget items ‘unconstitutional’MALACAÑANG on Tuesday justified President Rodrigo Duterte’s veto of P95.3 billion worth of programs and projects in the 2019 national budget, saying the provisions were “unconstitutional.”Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo explained that the vetoed provisions were “insertions,” not part of the programs of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Duterte signed, sans the usual ceremony, the much-delayed General Appropriations Bill into law on April 15, but vetoed P95.3 billion worth of items. Panelo, Duterte’s chief legal counsel, also said the vetoed items in the budget were “unprogrammed.”“The decision of the Supreme Court was that if they are unprogrammed, then, it violates the Constitution,” the Palace official said. When asked if the vetoed items were “pork,” Panelo said, “They are in violation of Constitution, whether you call it pork or beef or meat or fish. He did not confirm or deny if the remaining P20 billion in the total vetoed amount included insertions made by the Senate.

Source: Manila Times April 16, 2019 16:12 UTC