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News
May 22, 2010
Noy told: ‘Don’t do a Gloria’; Release
budget on time - Group May 22, 2010
Taking the lawmakers’ pork barrel
hostage, as well as impounding budget
for basic social services will make
President-apparent Benigno “Noynoy”
Aquino III no different from Pres.
Gloria Arroyo who is notorious for
taking control of the people’s purse,
budget activists said.
Prof. Leonor Magtolis-Briones, lead
convenor of Social Watch Philippines (SWP)
which initiated the
internationally-recognized Alternative
Budget Initiative (ABI) said “Aquino
should not do a Gloria” by ordering the
release of the budget on time.
During Pres. Arroyo’s term, the
impounded budget for 2009 alone has
reached P140 billion. The impounded
budget represents various fund transfers
from different government agencies. As
“government savings”, it becomes high
discretionary and its use is subject to
presidential prerogative.
“Since last year, the ABI has been
calling for the release of impounded
funds including 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.”
Briones said.
The impounded budget could have been
used by Pres. Arroyo for purposes other
than what was approved by Congress,
including election, specifically to aid
administration’s candidates in the
recently-concluded national and local
elections.
Briones said while the GMA-approved
budget for 2010 may have tied the hands
of her successor, much of the 2010
National budget remain highly
discretionary and subject to the
prerogative of the Office of the
President.
Beside, she said the claim of Albay Rep.
Edcel Lagman of Lakas-Kampi-CMD’s that
Sec. 67 of the General Appropriations
Act of 2010, which calls for the
prohibition against impoundment of
appropriations, may have been covered by
Pres. Arroyo’s conditional veto of the
budget. It also means that the issue is
subject to debate and interpretation,
she said.
“What is dangerous and disturbing is the
pronouncement of LP spokesperson Butch
Abad of LP’s plan to the use pork barrel
funds to win the Speakership of the
House. This will make Pres. Aquino no
different from GMA,” she said.
Jonathan Ronquillo, environment
campaigner of the nongovernment
organization La Liga Policy Institute
(La Liga) warned Pres. Aquino against
messing with the budget, saying it will
only create a wrong impression of him as
being “interested” in controlling the
people’s purse like Pres. Arroyo.
“The best thing to do is for Pres.
Aquino to give back the power of the
purse to Congress and make sure that the
funds are released on time,” he said.
The group, which acts as the secretariat
of the Environment Cluster of ABI is a
vocal critic of Pres. Arroyo, for
impounding budget, particularly the 2009
budget for Protected Areas and National
Parks, and two important wildlife
conservation projects – for pawikan or
sea turtle and the Philippine tamaraw.
The group also hit the Department of
Budget and Management (DBM) for
withholding the release of P1 billion
under Pres. Arroyo’s own pet project,
the Comprehensive Livelihood Emergency
Employment Program (CLEEP) for massive
tree planting activities which could
have provided jobs and livelihood to
hundreds of thousands of upland
dwellers.
“The timely disbursement of funds is
crucial to the defense of the
environment. We have learned from past
experiences under Pres. Arroyo’s
nine-year administration how impounding
the budget hampers the delivery of basic
social and economic services. Pres.
Aquino can avoid that by releasing the
budget on time,” Ronquillo ended. ^ Back to top
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