THE House of Representatives is expected to approve—or as the opposition puts it, “railroad” —on Friday night the P1.816-trillion national budget for next year.
Lakas-Kampi-CMD Rep. Maria Milagros Magsaysay of Zambales conceded that since the approval of the budget is a numbers game, allies of President Aquino who dominate the House are expected to pass it on third reading almost in the entirety of the President Aquino’s proposal.
Magsaysay added that the minority is not expecting Mr. Aquino’s allies to approve amendments to House Bill 5023, or the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA), because pro-administration legislators would like to appease the president by approving his budget proposal “as is” or a “photocopy” of the original proposal of Malacañang.
“That’s putting it brutally frank but it is true,” said Party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna, referring to the approval of the budget “in toto.”
Casiño has sought for a minimum of P80 billion in allocations for the Department of Health 2012 budget after Health Secretary Enrique Ona admitted that the P42-billion proposed budget under House Bill 5023, or the General Appropriations Bill was only half of what the department requested.
The militant legislator slammed Malacañang, saying that slashing the budget of the Department of Health by P38 billion, was a “criminal neglect on the part of government and consequently “underfund” public hospitals at a time when these facilities are in dire need of funds to acquire new facilities and equipment or maintain existing ones. Casiño, likewise, lamented the chronic lack of operational funds among the country’s public hospitals.
Other provisions being questioned by legislators in the proposed GAA is the budget allotted to bankroll the controversial conditional cash-transfer program which was increased to P39 billion from P21 billion this year, and the P500-million budget cut in the proposed P1.816-trillion budget that will affect 50 State Universities and Colleges across the country.
Likewise, the opposition and even some members of the majority are questioning the special provision in the 2012 budget giving unprecedented full control to the Executive branch of P101-billion funding for unfilled positions even for non-Executive branch agencies, including independent constitutional bodies and co-equal branches of Congress.
Earlier at the Senate, Sen. Joker Arroyo denounced as “fascistic and evil” the unanticipated shift from a previous policy where, he said, appropriations for unfilled positions of independent constitution agencies, (Supreme Court, Congress, Comelec, Civil Service Commission, COA, Ombudsman) are included in the annual budgets of their respective offices and are automatically released to these offices for them to disburse when appointments are made.
Several legislators are also calling for the rechanneling of the proposed P161-billion presidential special purpose fund, P107-billion Armed Forces of the Philippines budget, and P723-billion debt servicing allocation, to social services.
Members of the minority said it is up to the Senate to bring up the questions on the 2012 budget when it deliberates on it in plenary session.
