Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 20) — Several more items from the national budget and the tax reform law will be vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte even after he has signed these into law, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Wednesday.
Diokno said he and Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez recommended items to be culled from both measures, but it will be up to Duterte to decide which ones to veto.
“We have submitted a draft of the veto message to the President and as of today, I have not received yet the veto message. There’s certainly some veto items, although I cannot tell you now because I don’t know which of the items I recommended for veto will be actually vetoed by the President,” he said.
The announcement on other line items to be vetoed will be made on Thursday, so both laws can be implemented by the start of 2018, said Diokno.
Duterte signed the 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) Tuesday, calling it “the administration’s biggest Christmas gift to the Filipino people.”
Good news for security forces
Diokno, meanwhile, said the President will also sign this week the joint resolution raising salaries for all military and uniformed personnel.
The measure will increase their base pay by an average of 59 percent across all ranks. For the most junior personnel, Iike a Police Officer 1 in the Philippine National Police or a private in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, they will see their salaries double.
The government has allocated as much as P64.2 billion for the measure.
“I saw it signed yesterday by the Senate President and signed by the Speaker. So short of the signature of the President which is imminent because this is his pet project I think this will be effective January 1, 2018,” the Budget Secretary said.
