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THE 2009
national budget is laden with P200 billion in “excess
fat” and should be trimmed off, says the opposition.
This has drawn an immediate reply from administration
congressional allies that majority rules and they will
not be squeamish in using their numbers to ram through
the P1.415-trillion budget in its entirety, as proposed
by President Arroyo.
The
money bill’s second reading is scheduled before the
weekend, during which the Arroyo allies intend to begin
using their numbers to approve the measure on that
reading.
It was
not immediately clear if the “excess fat” comes from
congressional insertions or earmarks that have lately
taken up the attention of the Senate after an alleged
double entry on the allocation for the extension of the
C-5 highway, allegedly at the instance of Senate
President Manuel Villar.
In any
case, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, a member of the
oversight committee, said over the weekend that all
congressional insertions in the annual budget bill
should be posted on the Internet 24 hours before such
amendments are taken up for plenary approval by the
Senate and the House of Representatives, “to observe the
constitutional duty of transparency.”
She will
file a bill today, Monday, to be called the Legislative
Transparency and Accountability Act of 2008, in which
such disclosure would be mandatory along with the name
of the lawmaker who proposes such an earmark. All
bicameral conference committee reports would also be
required to include a list of all earmarks in the
budget.
As to
the alleged bloat in the budget, Deputy Speaker for
Mindanao Simeon Datumanong said the majority will,
however, look into the claim of the opposition, as
articulated by Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino Rep. Ronaldo
Zamora of San Juan.
But he
added that in the end, “it is still the majority who
will decide whether the proposal of the opposition is
justified or not....We are a democratic country. The
minority can propose to trim the budget by P100 billion
to P200 billion, but they have to defend each and every
cut they want to make.”
Liberal
Party Rep. Alvin Sandoval of Malabon-Navotas, in
agreeing with Datumanong, said “majority of the
administration lawmakers, if not all, will support the
Malacañang-proposed budget because this is essential to
keep our economy going amid global financial concerns.”
Lakas
Rep. Jesli Lapus of Tarlac said the main problem of the
Arroyo administration critics is they keep on connecting
everything, including the supposed “fats” in the
proposed national budget, to the 2010 elections.
“We
should stop thinking about the elections, just for once,
and focus instead on helping the government weather the
possible disastrous effects of the US financial crisis
on the Philippine economy. We need economic
infrastructure especially now when there is worldwide
economic crisis,” said Lapus.
Well,
cut or not, independent think tank IBON Foundation urged
the administration and its allies in Congress to ensure
enough resources are spent for the poor, especially in
view of the economic concerns spreading around the
world.
“The
Arroyo administration must start by increasing the
allocation for social services in the 2009 national
budget, more than the relatively measly 2.5 percent of
the total budget for health, 13 percent for education
and 0.4 percent for housing, which are atrociously low
especially in today’s environment of rapidly rising
prices and greater economic uncertainty.”
IBON
said economists count slowdown in exports, tighter flows
in foreign investments and increased speculation in food
and fuel prices among the consequences of the US
financial crisis that will spread around the world.
It
argued that it thus becomes more urgent for the
government to provide sufficient social services such as
health, education and housing. “But the proposed budget
levels obviously could not cover the expected increased
demand for public schools and hospitals, among others.”
Then
there is also the leak in the budget, a fear that
administration lawmakers sought to allay, saying the
House “will faithfully pursue its constitutional
oversight powers to ensure that public money is not
wasted by irregularities during implementation.”
One way
of doing this, among others, is to have every earmark
proposal be accompanied by an explanation of its
essential government purpose. “I am also considering
adopting American law and filing a Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act,” said Senator
Santiago.
She
indicated that a separate bill will require the
Department of Budget and Management to create a
searchable database of all government-appropriated funds
and their recipients. “Even in the US, the Executive and
Legislative branches cannot agree on the definition of
‘earmarks,’ which we call congressional insertions.” |
