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House
Deputy Minority Floor Leader Teofisto “TG” Guingona was
studiously going over the National Expenditure Program
for 2009 when he noticed an innocent-looking item in the
823-page volume entitled “Overall Savings.” It was
located in pages 730 to 738 of the document. There were
eight pages of “savings” in 2007, plus continuing
appropriations from Republic Act 9401, or the General
Appropriations Act for 2007.
As TG
read further, he realized that duly appropriated funds
were transferred from agencies and placed in “overall
savings.” These “savings” were then transferred to other
agencies. The amounts involved were mind-boggling. Total
available appropriations in the account reached P106.108
billion. These were described as “unused appropriations”
and “unreleased appropriations.”
In
addition to the above “budgetary adjustments,” the same
“overall savings” also include continuing appropriations
for capital outlays of P6.744 billion and unreleased
appropriation for maintenance and other operating
expenses of P20.925 billion, or a total of P27.669
billion.
Programs
and projects which can be funded with “overall savings”
of P133.777 billion can go a very long way, especially
in 2009, which is very close to the 2010 elections.
TG is
now asking a number of questions. First, under what
circumstances can the Executive transfer duly
appropriated funds from agencies and classify these as
savings? There are any number of reasons why
appropriated funds are not released. It can be that the
documentary requirements of the Department of Budget and
Management are not complied with. It can also be stated
that funds were not available or collected by the
revenue-raising agencies. This is not a sufficient
reason, of course, since the government can resort to
borrowing if the expenditure item is important enough.
Appropriated funds can be withheld for political
reasons. This is particularly true for pork barrel and
other perks. When he was chief of staff of the Office of
the President, Michael Defensor said on television, “Why
should we release their pork barrel when they [the
opposition] are criticizing the President?”
Additional allocations which are placed by congressmen
for social and economic development can suffer the same
fate.
It is
not, therefore, surprising that the Executive was able
to “save” P133.777 billion by the mere expedience of
withholding release of certain funds.
Second,
what is the effect on the legislative “power of the
purse” when so-called savings are generated by
nonrelease of appropriations and used for other
purposes? The obvious answer is that the original intent
of the Legislature is thwarted and replaced by the
preferences of the Executive.
Third,
what is the remedy for this farce? Congress goes through
the motions of appropriating the budget only to have the
Executive transferring various allocations by
withholding release, and labeling these as “savings.”
The
answer is two-pronged. Actual implementation of the
General Appropriations Act has to be monitored. This is
not done at present. The legislature believes that its
task is finished once the budget is signed into law. The
action is actually in the implementation.
Another
remedy is to pass a law limiting discretion of the
Executive in making transfers from one account to
another in the guise of savings. At present the “overall
savings” claimed from the preceding year’s budget is 10
percent. This is considered exceedingly high.
The more
TG reads the voluminous budget documents, the more
questions come to his mind. He has championed the cause
of participatory budgeting, or citizens’ participation
in the budget process since 2006, and has worked with
the Alternative Budget Initiative convened by Social
Watch Philippines.
Reclaiming the power of the purse
The
Constitution has invested the legislature with the power
of the purse. During the budget hearings, congressmen
and senators ask nerve-racking questions and skewer the
Executive agencies with their sharp tongues and insults.
However,
the rite of appropriation is only one part of the budget
process. Budget preparation is completely in the hands
of the Executive. During the appropriation phase,
legislators believe they wield absolute power. Actually,
they can’t increase the total size of the budget; they
can only decrease it. If the Senate and Congress can’t
agree on the budget, the previous year’s budget will be
reenacted. Finally, if the President does not like the
budget crafted by the legislators, she can always
utilize her veto power.
After
the appropriation process, implementation begins. This
is totally in the hands of the Executive. The final
phase is the accountability phase, when the audit body
comes in.
Many in
the legislature realize that it is time to reclaim the
power of the purse. It is important to monitor the
actual implementation of the budget and exact
accountability from the Executive for budget
implementation. |
