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News
October
9, 2009
DBM source of data on impounded funds
Civil society calls for release of other
impounded funds to save people from
disasters
The data on the P140 billion Overall
Savings from impounded funds is based on
documents supplied by the Department of
Budget and Management (DBM) to Congress
and the report of the Commission on
Audit (COA) on the 2008 Appropriations.
Members of the Alternative Budget
Initiative (ABI) reminded Malacanang
officials about this when they expressed
ignorance on the whereabouts of the P140
billion funds impounded by President
Gloria Arroyo which can be partially
used to increase the calamity fund
instead of releasing a supplemental
budget.
“The details on the overall savings are
on pages 714 to 723 of the NEP 2010,”
said former national treasurer Leonor
Magtolis Briones, lead convenor of
Social Watch Philippines (SWP) which
organized the ABI. “In 2008, President
Arroyo transferred P178 billion from
different agencies to overall savings.
On the other hand, a total of P38
billion was transferred from Overall
Savings to different agencies. This
resulted to a net transfer of P140
billion which are recorded as Unreleased
Appropriations. Presumably, this amount
is carried over to 2009,” Briones added.
Briones also said that, instead of a
supplemental budget that would only
increase the country’s deficit,
Malacanang can use the remaining
balances in the Special Purpose Funds (SPFs)
and accumulated savings which are
handled by the Office of the President
through the DBM. “We can look at the
calamity fund and contingency fund,
which are under SPF, to be able to
respond to the disasters. Details on the
calamity fund are on pages 669 to 671 of
the NEP, while contingency fund details
are on pages 672 to 673,” Briones said.
Meanwhile, Isagani Serrano, vice
president of the Philippine Rural
Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) and one
of the heads of the ABI-Environment
Group, said that they are horrified by
the response of Budget Chief Rolando
Andaya that the said amount is an
“amount only in paper”.
“We are talking about people’s
hard-earned money here. They cannot just
allocate public funds, impound it, and
say that the amount is non-existent and
just in paper,” Serrano said. “While it
is true that the amounts are listed in
paper, they are translated into cash
once the President authorize the release
of these budget items and the DBM
process its release,” he said.
“Millions of Filipinos are already in
harm’s way due to the impacts of climate
change and environmental degradation.
Government should immediately use these
impounded funds to save and protect our
communities from extreme weather
conditions,” Serrano added.
The ABI presented a list of impounded
funds during the House Committee on
Appropriations’ special hearing on ABI’s
alternative budget proposals. This
includes funds for health and
agriculture programs in the 2008 budget
such as P1.8 billion for family health,
P400 million for the tuberculosis
program, P100 million for purchase of
autoclaves, P100 million for the
promotion of organic agriculture and P2
million for training for system of rice
intensification (SRI) small farmers; and
funds in the 2009 General Appropriations
Act (GAA) including P95 million for
Protected Areas and Wildlife Management
and P1 billion for reforestation.
Committee on Appropriations Vice Chair
Edcel Lagman echoed the ABI’s call in
his sponsorship speech during the
plenary debates on the 2010 national
budget. “Once impounded as “forced
savings” congressional initiative
allocations may never see the light of
day or the impounded amounts constitute
an off-budget new lump sum which can be
used by the Executive to fund projects
which may not even find anchorage in the
General Appropriations Act,” Lagman
said.
The ABI also called Congress to advise
the Executive to be transparent and
report any transfer of funds to calamity
funds. “The Commission on Audit (COA)
reported lack of information on budget
documents such as the pooled savings in
2007 amounting to P106.11 billion from
net of transfer from one agency to
another and from one SPF to another
which cannot be verified due to lack of
supporting documents,” Briones said.
“The COA also reported realignment of
Funds without Authority such as savings
on electricity and fuel which were used
to pay transportation and rice subsidy
without request for realignment,”
Briones said.
The ABI, a consortium of 60
nongovernment organizations led by
Social Watch Philippines, is globally
acknowledged for initiating civil
society-legislature partnership for
alternative budget proposals for
increased allocation for health,
agriculture, environment and education.
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