Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte of Davao City drew a sharp line on Saturday between two kinds of government money, arguing that the national tax allotment cited by the Palace has nothing to do with the congressional district allocation he says his city was denied.
His remarks, posted on Facebook, pushed back against Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, who a day earlier pointed to Davao City’s P52.80 billion NTA as evidence that the local government had, in fact, been funded.
Duterte maintained the two figures should not be conflated. “Ang NTA ay automatic appropriation para sa mga LGU (local government unit). Alam naman nating lahat iyan. Hindi ko sinabi na walang NTA ang Davao City…pero ang tinutukoy ko ay budget allocation para sa congressional districts,” he wrote, according to GMA News Online.
Castro had introduced the P52.80 billion figure while rebutting the congressman’s claim that no national government funding reached Davao City. “Sa sinasabing walang government funding na nilaan sa Davao City, ayon kay Cong. Pulong [Duterte], ito ang totoo,” she said.
To settle the question of which allocation actually exists, Duterte called on the Department of Budget and Management to produce the records.
Reached by GMA News Online, Castro narrowed the scope of what she had addressed, saying her earlier statement responded only to specific questions put to her: the NTA allotment itself, her reading of the assertion that Davao City received nothing from the national government, and whether documentation existed to back that assertion.
She then turned the burden back toward the congressman, suggesting reporters press him for the underlying paperwork. “It is better for the media to ask Pulong Duterte for those ‘proposed projects and their feasibility studies’ to see if the alleged denial of the congressional allocation was justified or not,” Castro said.
