Sotto questions DENR for seeking P1.2-B for travel expenses in 2022
Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III has questioned the allocation of P1.2 billion in traveling expenses in the 2022 budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Sotto raised his question during a debate on the proposed P25 billion budget of DENR in 2022.
The Senate chief asked why DENR has this huge traveling expenses when it has many regional offices and its personnel are spread out throughout the archipelago.
Through Senator Cynthia A. Villar, vice chairman of the Senate Finance committee, DENR explained that the P1.2 billion would be shared among the 275 offices and attached agencies of DENR.
If the P1.2 billion is split among these offices, each would be given an average of P4.7 million each, she pointed out.
DENR also needs the budget for its monitoring and enforcement of laws on environment and in coordination monitoring, evaluation and validation of programs and activities of the entire DENR.
Sotto was not satisfied. He pointed out that DENR could use telephones and the internet for coordination and based on what DENR had said, it has many offices in the provinces.
In the end, Sotto threw the problem to the Senate to decide whether it would reduce the DENR budget or not.
This will be decided when the budgets of the national government departments and offices go through the period of amendments.
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