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Civil society questions Government’s steps on supplemental budget June 02, 2008
Former national treasurer and SocialWatch Philippines lead convenor, Leonor Magtolis Briones, questioned Government’s steps on increased spending and a P75-billion supplemental budget to meet the revised 2008 growth target, saying that this reflects unsound financial management.
Recently, the National Economic Development Authority announced that the Budget Department is considering a P75 billion supplemental budget — equivalent to this year’s expected budget deficit — to achieve a revised 5.7-6.5% growth target. Also, Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves, announced that P18.6 billion of the planned increased spending of P93.6 billion additionally will be funded by extra revenues due to high oil prices.
“The Philippine constitution states that before a supplemental budget can be approved, the national treasurer should first certify that there are funds available for additional budget. How can they say that the Philippines has additional funds and exceeded revenue targets when we are still in the middle of the year and it has not collected all revenues yet,” said Briones.
Briones, who heads the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI), a consortium of nongovernment organizations that pioneered civil society engagement in the national budget process, called for transparency and accountability in the Government’s plan on a P75 billion supplemental budget from Official Development Assistance. “The government should make known the sources of ODA, the amount borrowed, specific purpose of the funds, as well as the conditionalities of the donor organizations. Briones linked the issue of sound financial management to the Commission on Audit Report (COA) on the 2007 national budget where the President’s office has unliquidated cash advances, “loans” without records, payments to non-employees, uses of funds not prescribed by donors, understated expenses and overstated accounts in hundreds of millions of pesos.
“The Office of the President should sincerely use the taxpayers’ money for services to improve people’s welfare to move the anti-poverty efforts, instead of more borrowings and unsound financial management which causes losses that will be shouldered by the people,” Briones said.
Meanwhile, Rene Raya, convenor of SocialWatch Philippines, said that, before working on legislation on a supplemental budget, the Executive and Legislative should first work on releasing the P6.3 billion increase in allocations for social services in the 2008 budget. “The President vetoed the proposal on debt service as sources of additional funding for the P6.3 billion additional budget for social services. They should make sure that additional allocations in the General Appropriations Act for health, education, agriculture, and environment are actually implemented,” Raya said.
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