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SENATORS
confirmed having qualms over the House version of the
P1.227-trillion budget bill approved on third reading
this week and due to be transmitted to the Senate for
concurrence, which includes P17.8-billion House cuts in
annual appropriations for debt payments that were
reportedly realigned to some congressmen’s pet projects.
“We have
reservations on certain items included [in the
House-approved 2008 budget bill],” Enrile, Senate
finance committee chairman, told reporters on Thursday.
“We want to know the reasons for these cuts,” he added.
Appearing earlier in last Wednesday’s Quijano de Manila
Symposium at the Cherry Blossoms Hotel in
Manila, Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. indicated senators are
also looking at potential cuts in at least 10 percent of
the P1.227-trillion budget pie for next year.
But
Enrile, who will sponsor the money measure in the
upcoming Senate floor debates, said the final cuts have
yet to be determined. “I am not telling you where I will
cut and where I will not cut. We will have to be very
careful in cutting them, but if there is a need, we will
do certain cuts,” he said.
He
assured, though, that the “modifications” in the Senate
version of the budget which the finance committee would
endorse will “follow the constitutional mandate to
foster education, foster health needs and support
infrastructure projects of the government.”
Enrile
did not rule out the possibility that other senators may
move to
similarly cut some items in the Palace-proposed money
measure, but said these will likely be reallocated to
other projects requiring priority funding.
“Yes we
will do some realignments,” Enrile explained.
“Certain
cuts made by the House in the general appropriations
bill that they passed will be reviewed by the Senate.”
According to Enrile, many of the House cuts were merely
transferred to other items and budgetary allocations in
the different departments.
For
instance, he noted that the House of Representatives
slashed debt-service appropriations by at least P17.8
billion and realigned these to the budgets of different
departments and agencies of the government.
Enrile
also confirmed Villar’s announced timetable for the
Senate to pass the budget bill before Congress goes on
Christmas recess next month. He said the finance panel
is prepared to render a committee report as soon as the
House transmits its approved version of the 2008 budget
bill to the Senate.
“I am
ready to report it out. I am just waiting for the final
version of the House [to be transmitted to us]. I will
expose it to one public hearing, prepare the committee
report, then submit it for floor debate,” he said. “We
are within the timetable.”
Enrile
indicated that the senators will have to “modify” the
budget bill proposed by Malacañang and approved by the
House, “but I don’t know where we will have to modify.”
“By and
large, I will not differ much from the proposal of the
administration because they are the ones in charge of
defining the programs of government, they define it,
they know the facts, they know the needs of the
country,” he added.
Enrile
disclosed that an initial review of the House-approved
version showed the debt-service appropriations for 2008
was reduced by over P17.3 billion. “But they used that
amount, they distributed that to several sectors of
government. So, the budget was not actually reduced, the
amount was just transferred to some other uses.”
But
Enrile admitted he is inclined to back a House proposal
that incorporated the debt service in the budget which
means, the senator said, that “it [debt payment] is no
longer automatically appropriated.” |
