NOW that the 2015 national budget has passed through the House of Representatives and the Senate, and is being reconciled to final form by a bicameral committee (bicam), let us start to understand the key budget items so we can better follow the contentious debate on the budget.
The Executive department first submitted to Congress its National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2015 with an accompanying Sources of Financing document. The total expenditure program was P2,606 billion. The General Appropriations Bill was for the same amount. The House version was for the same amount. The Senate committee version was for the same amount.
But some of the component items within each version of the Executive, the House and the Senate have been realigned, i.e. reduced, increased, or maintained, and these are what are to be reconciled by the bicam, to come up with a final version for the President’s approval.
The major categories of the proposed national budget are:
(a) The Regular Budget P1,361 B
which consists of the expenditure
program of the 34 departments
and agencies of government;
The Special Purpose Funds P501 B
which consist of 10
sub-categories of funds.
You add (a) and (b) P1,862 B
to come up with Total New Appropriations.
Deducting the Unprogrammed
Fund of – P123 B
will bring us to
PROGRAMMED NEW APPROPRIATIONS of – P1,739 B
To this we add:
AUTOMATIC APPROPRIATIONS of- P866 B
and we have the
TOTAL EXPENDITURE PROGRAM (the budget) of – P2,605 B
In the NEP, House and Senate versions, the total expenditure program is the same, but it is interesting to note the items which were changed and not changed, as the budget moved through Congress.
There were increases in department budgets compared to what the NEP proposed, largely made in the Senate committee version. Two examples: Congress’s budget was increased by P63.6 million to P10.820 billion. The Department of Education’s budget was increased by P2.9 billion to P322.4 billion, the largest among departments.
Curiously, the NEP-proposed budgets for the following departments/agencies were not touched, neither increased nor decreased: Office of the Vice President (P222 million); the Department of Budget and Management (P1.418 billion); the Department of Foreign Affairs (P12.869 billion); the Department of Science and Technology (P9.172 billion); National Economic and Development Authority (P6.272 billion); Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (P24.299 billion); and Civil Service Commission (P1.114 billion).
Under Special Purpose Funds, there’s an item for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program (Yolanda), originally P1 billion proposed by the Executive, but increased to P20 billion in the Senate version. There’s also an item for the Equity Value Buy-Out of the MRT Corp. for P53.9 billion, the largest single sum under Special Purpose Funds.
There are a lot of lump-sum appropriations in the proposed 2015 national budget, if by lump sum we mean amounts which just generally describe the purpose for the expenditure but which are not so specifically defined so as to give discretion to the President in directing the spending. Such discretion is indeed needed for more flexible, effective management of public funds. Take, for example, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Calamity Fund of P14 billion. We can’t too specifically identify the kind of calamity, where it may happen, and the kind of spending required to meet the need. But this gives the President wide spending latitude—and power, which is why lump-sum appropriations are called presidential pork barrel.
This is a most limited preview. The modest intention is that the reader might be encouraged to take a little more interest in the national budget, to be more assertive in knowing how the public money is spent. Even as a matter of curiosity. But certainly as a matter of right.