'Walang personalan': Nograles says Congress unlikely to retaliate after P95.3B budget veto

MANILA - Lawmakers are unlikely to "retaliate" after President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed P95.3 billion worth of items in the 2019 national budget, an official said Wednesday

In a weekly forum, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said he did not see any negative effect caused by the President's decision to veto certain provisions in the P3.7 trillion 2019 national budget.

“We don’t foresee any retaliation by Congress in this measure kasi wala namang personalan dito e (We don't take it personally). The president believes this is correct and legal,” Nograles told reporters.

Duterte signed this year's spending allocation last April 15 with vetoed items and with provisions under "conditional implementation," Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo earlier said. 

• Despite 2019 budget delay, Duterte vows infrastructure push 'will be sustained'

The vetoed items covering projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways "are not included in the programmed priorities," Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez earlier said. 

Socioeconomic Planning Sec. Ernesto Pernia earlier estimated that the country's Gross Domestic Product growth could slow to between 6.1 to 6.3 percent if a reenacted budget was used until April.