Photo Release

SP Sotto questions DENR’s P1.2B transpo allowance: Senate President Vicente Sotto III, during Monday’s hybrid plenary session, November 15, 2021, deliberating on the proposed P25.3 billion budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for 2022, questions the agency’s transportation allowance allocation amounting to P1.28 billion. Sotto pointed out the agency has regional offices around the country, hence, there is no need to travel and instead maximize the use of mobile phones and the internet. Sen. Cynthia Villar, defending the DENR budget, told Sotto the amount will be distributed to the central office, 16 regional offices, 76 Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices (PENRO), 142 Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices (CENRO), two line bureaus and 31 regional offices and three attached agencies, or a total of 275 offices with an average of P4.7 million per office. “Precisely, there are 275 offices, which means regional offices are all over the country. Why do they have to travel?” Sotto asked, adding that he would leave it to the body to validate the necessity of having a huge travel allowance. (Henzberg Austria/Senate PRIB)