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WHILE
civil-society groups recognized the signing of the
P1.23-trillion national budget for 2008 as a major gain
because of the people’s participation in it, they called
on the people to be vigilant and continue guarding the
fund so as to end, and not just moderate, the corruption
which usually occurs during spending.
“Kailangan
natin itong bantayan baka saan na naman mapunta ang
budget na ito na ipinagyayabang na mataas na mataas,
kasi [kahit] i-approve ito, ang fiesta
dito ay sa pag-release ng pera. Ang pag-release
ng pera ay hindi transparent. Hindi natin alam
kung ano ang detalye sa pag-release ng pera, ano
ang basehan sa pag-prioritize ng projects
etc.,” said Prof. Leonor Briones of the Alternative
Budget Initiative (ABI) during a news conference at the
University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City,
Wednesday.
“Kailangan
i-monitor natin ito. So we call on the people
to continue guarding the fund. Finally, bantayan
natin na hindi mahulog sa korupsyon itong P1.2
trillion na ito. We might have an increased
budget but we also have increased opportunities for
corruption and stealing. Only continued vigilance will
end and not just moderate the corruption that is
prevalent in these times,” Briones added.
Fr. Ben
Moraleda of the Freedom from Debt Coalition echoed
Briones’s call, saying that it is in the spending that
the hocus-pocus happens.
“Kailangan
talagang bantayan natin ito dahil dito talaga dinadaya
ang mga tao,” Moraleda said.
Briones
said the civil society feels triumphant in the signing
of the budget because it contains P5 billion additional
allocations advocated by ABI convened by the Social
Watch
Philippines.
The
additional allocations constitute a major step in the
journey toward genuine people participation in the
budget process and an important gain in the advocacy to
restore the power of the purse to the people, she said.
“For us,
major gain ito dahil ngayon lang nangyari na talagang
pinakinggan ang people’s organization. Ngayon
lang isinali at ni-recognize sa budget
process ang participation ng mga civil
society organizations,” Briones said.
But
still, Briones said that the hard-won gains can easily
disappear during the implementation phase and that
budget reforms are far from complete.
She said
that since the budget will possibly be implemented only
in April, three months or an entire quarter of the year
has been lost.
“Only 75
percent of the additional allocations will be
implemented this year. This is the lost quarter,”
Briones said.
She
warned that the “delay is the opportunity side of
corruption.”
She
added that while the government has been boasting of a
bigger budget, it should be noted that P600 billion of
it is intended for debt servicing.
“At
ang mga increases na ipinagyayabang ay
inadequate for the Millennium Development Goal
requirements,” Briones said.
She said
the increases are nowhere near the P94 billion
additional resources required for 2008.
Meanwhile, Lakas Rep. Edcel Lagman, chairman of the
House Committee on Appropriations, said the House
compliments President Arroyo for not subjecting to a
direct item veto the augmentations which Congress
provided for basic social services like education and
health, as well as for infrastructure development from
the P25.9-billion cut from debt-service payments.
“Considering the continuing effectivity of automatic
appropriation for debt service, we expected the veto of
the special provision prohibiting interest payments for
tainted, fraudulent and useless loans pending their
renegotiation or condonation,” Lagman said.
“However, with the veto, the Executive unfortunately
forfeited the strong political endorsement from Congress
for the renegotiation or condonation of odious and
wasteful loans in the improvident league of the Bataan
Nuclear Power Plant indebtedness, which the government
has fully paid despite the mothballing of the nuclear
facility which was errantly supplied and installed from
a tainted loan,” he added.
But
Lagman said that irrespective of the veto of the special
provision on debt service, he still hope the Executive
will conduct a thorough audit of all loans which are
challenged as fraudulent, tainted and useless before
making payments for principal amortizations and interest
payments. |
