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News
February 12, 2010
Briones calls for third party monitoring
of 2010 budget
FORMER national treasure Leonor
Magtolis Briones, lead convenor of
Social Watch Philippines and a
Congressional candidate under
party-list Kaakbay, called on
Congressmen and Senators to fully
exercise their power of the purse
over the 2010 national budget by
supporting monitoring of public
funds by civil society groups.
“The work of Congress and Senate
does not stop on passing the budget.
President Gloria Arroyo has approved
the P1.54 trillion budget for 2010;
and it is within times of economic
crises and national elections. This
means more work of Senators and
Congressmen to ensure that the
budget are actually released to the
most vulnerable sectors of society,”
Briones said. “This is a crucial
fiscal year as diversion of public
funds is rampant during election
period,” she added.
Briones explained that fair and
transparent monitoring of the budget
can only be done by a third party
that is impartial and not dominated
by political considerations. “This
refers to civil society groups who
have been tracking the release and
utilization of the budget from the
national government down the
communities,” Briones said.
She warned that there is no
third-party monitoring in the
Philippines. “The Philippine budget
system is based on a decree by the
dictatorial regime of President
Ferdinand Marcos. The constitution
mandates the President to veto
specific items in the budget bill
created by the Senate and House of
Representatives . On the
implementation of the approved
budget, the President can transfer
items as deemed necessary,” Briones
explained.
“This kind of system, which has no
check and balance, breeds
corruption, monopoly and tax evasion
and hampers the government’s efforts
to attain pro-poor targets,” she
added.
Briones leads over a hundred
citizens’ organizations on a
campaign for increased spending for
social services through the
Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI).
Through ABI, civil society and
legislators work together in
formulating and lobbing for
alternative budget proposals for
increased allocation for education,
health, agriculture and the
environment.
“The ABI was successful in pushing
Congress to form a Joint Legislative
Oversight on the Budget with
citizens’ participation because
there is a need for Senators and
Congressmen to rigorously monitor
the release and utilization of
public funds. Yet, both Houses still
need to operationalize the Budget
Oversight Committee and to include
civil society groups during budget
oversight,” she said.
“Civil society and legislators
should work together to finally
institutionalize third party
monitoring in the country because
poverty alleviation rests upon how
the national budget is crafted and
implemented,” Briones said.
Briones, is globally acclaimed for
leading sectoral groups on
pioneering campaigns for
transparency, accountability and
people’s participation in the budget
process. She is the Philippine
ambassador to the W8 which is a
group of women leaders talking to
heads of the richest countries to
live up to their promises to help
poor nations finance social
development programs.
She was also chosen by Kaakbay
Partylist as one of their candidates
because of her longstanding
dedication and leadership role in
efforts to achieve the country’s
commitment to end the worst forms of
human deprivation through the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
such as the eradication of extreme
poverty, achieving quality
education, realizing universal
healthcare services and ensuring
environmental sustainability.
.
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