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THE
Action for Economic Reforms, Coalition against
Corruption, Makati Business Club and the Transparency
and Accountability Network Wednesday said President
Arroyo violated constitutional processes in the release
of P2 billion for a poverty-alleviation program of the
government to provide subsidy for the marginalized
sector.
“This
expenditure program was not authorized by Congress in
the recently passed 2008 budget. The President thus
violated a constitutional provision that no money will
be paid out by the Treasury unless authorized by the
general appropriations law,” said the statement.
Last
week the BusinessMirror ran stories quoting former
national treasurer Leonor Briones and Senate Minority
Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. warning the Palace about
this grave lapse. While agreeing with the mandate to
help the poor cope with the crisis from soaring prices
of oil and food, the two said the President must follow
the constitutional guidelines on spending.
Budget
Secretary Rolando Andaya and House appropriations panel
chief Edcel Lagman had defended the Palace’s action, but
former budget secretary Benjamin Diokno agreed with
Briones’s assessment that the use of billions for ad hoc
programs was not covered by the legal provisions on
supplemental budgets.
The
three groups (AER, MBC, TAN), meanwhile, described the
doles as palliatives that will address short-term
political exigencies which drastically affect the major
antipoverty programs.
“While
it is government’s role to protect the disadvantaged in
our society, it is common economic knowledge that
ill-conceived subsidies are not efficient means of
allocating a developing country’s meager resources,” the
alliance pointed out.
It cited
the Latin American experience wherein conditional cash
transfers have minimal impact in addressing the health
and education needs of the poor. To be effective, the
group said doles should have a counterpart by the
beneficiaries so there will be accountability.
“Unconditional dole-outs make [the] government look good
but do nothing to tackle the roots of the people’s
poverty and daily hardship. They do not solve the
problem of insufficient harvests, high transport fares
and utility bills,” said the group. |
