FORMER National Treasurer and Social Watch convener Leonor Magtolis-Briones raised concern on Saturday that more than half of the P2.606-trillion national government budget this year is prone to misuse, as the Aquino administration embedded the funds in pork-barrel-style appropriations in spending agencies.
Briones said, of the total P2.606-trillion budget under the 2015 General Appropriations Act (GAA), Congress has only scrutinized the agency allocation worth P866.2 billion, while the rest of the funds are executive discretion.
“Congress’s power of the purse is weakened and eroded,” Briones said in her speech at the recent forum on national budget held at the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG).
Briones, who teaches at the UP-NCPAG, said: “Only 23 percent of the budget were subjected to Congress’s scrutiny. Ironically, it is Congress itself that yields the power of the purse. Congress presided over its own requiem.”
She said that, although the Supreme Court has declared as unconstitutional the Priority Development Assistance Fund (Pdaf), also known as pork barrel, and major portions of the Disbursement Acceleration Program, such types of appropriations are still embedded in key spending agencies.
Briones said the pork-barrel style of allocation in key spending agencies has reached P46.1 billion, and this will not be subject to government auditing and Congress scrutiny.
Of these funds, the Department of Public Works and Highways has the biggest allocation, worth P27.3 billion. The funds will be used for medical assistance of indigent patients, as well as key health projects of local governments.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development, meanwhile, has a P14-billion share from the pork-barrel-style funds embedded in key spending agencies. The funds are intended for assistance to families affected by natural calamities, families in difficult circumstances, and to provide livelihood programs.
The Department of Labor and Employment, meanwhile, obtained an allocation of P1.97 billion for its capacity-building programs for Filipino youth to help them get decent employment. The funds are also intended to provide livelihood programs and jobs for families affected by calamities.
The Department of Health was given an allocation of P1.9 billion from the pork-barrel-style budget to provide assistance to indigent patients and help poor communities in health-related projects.
The Commission on Higher Education has obtained an allocation of P1.8 billion from the questionable allocation to sustain the scholarship programs of poor but deserving college students.
1 comment
and then sasabihin ng magnanakaw na hindi importante ang FOI dahil wala naman sila itinatago….BTW bakit nasama sa budget ng DPWH ang medical assistance for indigent patients? kelan pa naging doctor ang mga engineer?di ba dapat sa DOH yan?