LAWMAKERS on Tuesday questioned the “hanging pork” and the “presidential pork” in the proposed 2020 national budget despite the assurance made by the sponsors of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) that it is “just, fair and appropriate.”
Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas made the statement during the start of plenary deliberations on the 2020 national budget at the House of Representatives.
In the 2020 expenditure program for the Department of Public Works and Highways, Brosas said there is a P1.79-billion “discrepancy” between the breakdown of the agency’s allocations per region versus the total DPWH regional allocation.
According to Brosas, a discrepancy of nearly P2 billion cannot be dismissed as a clerical error because the inconsistencies of the data provided in the 2020 National Expenditure Program (NEP) are also reflected in the GAB.
“This P1.79-billion ‘hanging pork’ could’ve been enough to build public hospitals, schools and decent housing for the poor. But the DBM left it without any item under DPWH at the pleasure of the agency,” she added.
Brosas said the billion-peso discrepancy in the DPWH allocation might be one of the reasons the GAB on the proposed P4.1-trillion budget for 2020 was withdrawn from the House plenary last week. She said there could be more discrepancies in other agencies.
‘Presidential pork’
Moreover, the Makabayan bloc also questioned the “biggest presidential pork in history,” which “some reports say amounts to P1.7 trillion, or more than a quarter of the P4.1 trillion budget.”
The bloc said this “pork” is under the Special Purpose Funds (SPF) which did not have specific details but will be directly controlled by the President and his alter egos under the 2020 budget.
“It is incumbent upon Congress to scrutinize the national budget especially the SPF because it is classified as a humongous lump sum, and therefore pork barrel,” the bloc said.
“President Duterte just said that he would veto any pork in the national budget. He should set an example and veto this as well,” it added.
The Makabayan Bloc is composed of Bayan Muna Reps. Carlos Isagani Zarate, Ferdinand Gaite, Eufemia Cullamat, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, Brosas, and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago.
‘Faithful replica’
House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Isidro Ungab said the distributed copies of the 2020 GAB are a “faithful” replica of the 2020 NEP submitted by the Palace.
Ungab also said no changes or amendments have been made in the NEP.
The 2020 national budget of P4.1 trillion, which is cash-based, is 11.8 percent more than the 2019 budget and will constitute 19.4 percent of the country’s GDP.
Social services will receive the largest chunk of the budget with P1.5 trillion or a 37.2-percent share, followed by economic services, which will receive P1.18 trillion or a 28.9-percent share. General public services will receive P734.5 billion; debt burden, P451 billion; and defense, P195.6 billion.
The government targets to maintain a manageable deficit of 3.2 percent of GDP for 2020.
“This is a budget of expenditures as mentioned by the Constitution which in our current budgetary practice is composed of the Programmed New Appropriations of P2.85 trillion and Automatic Appropriations of P1.25 trillion,” Ungab said.
“The new general appropriations sought to be authorized under House Bill 4228 is P3.066 trillion, consisting of P2.850 trillion in programmed new appropriations and P216.3 billion in unprogrammed appropriations, which can be spent only if and when actual revenue collections for the year exceed the targeted revenue, as per Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing [BESF] or when new foreign loans or grants are received,” he added.
According to Ungab, the P4.1-trillion proposed budget “reflects the government’s resolve” to allocate the annual available resources only to those programs and projects which are better planned and can be executed and completed within the budget year by agencies based on their implementation capacities.
“The Expenditure Program is therefore consistent with the fiscal program comprised of revenue collection target of P3.536 trillion, a disbursement ceiling of P4.214 trillion and net financing sources to cover the corresponding P677.6 billion budget deficit,” he added.
By sector, Ungab said the expenditure program for 2020 continues to give priority to social and economic services in support of programs that seek to alleviate poverty, build up human capital, and develop infrastructure to sustain the country’s economic growth.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila