P4.8-B congressional ‘insertions’ identified

MANILA, Philippines - This year’s P2.606-trillion national budget has at least P4.8 billion in congressional “insertions,” according to an opposition lawmaker, who said it was a clear attempt to circumvent a Supreme Court ruling against the pork barrel system.

Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said a document from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has “pointed to where pork is hiding” in the 2015 national budget. 

Ridon was referring to the “Summary of Appropriations for Later Release” or “negative list,” an annex to National Budget Circular 556 or the Guidelines on the Release of Funds for 2015. 

The document outlines how most items in the national budget are considered released without need of a Special Allotment Release Order, while those under the so-called negative list still require the release of SAROs. 

Out of the P495.7 billion under the negative list, Ridon said P4.8 billion worth of projects are categorized either as “congressional insertion” or “congressional initiative.” The items are spread out in nine departments and six other executive offices and contain “no details” on how the funds will be used. 

“The DBM negative list exposes the new modus of politicians to secure pork funds. Due to the restrictions imposed by the SC decision on the unconstitutional PDAF, post-enactment identification of projects became cumbersome for corrupt politicians. To get around this restriction, certain unscrupulous legislators devised ways to insert items in the national budget before its enactment into law,” Ridon said. 

He said the DBM apparently wanted to wash its hands of the issue and identified the items as authored by lawmakers.

“These insertions, however, are devoid of details required to be covered under the GAA-as-release document scheme, thereby necessitating further clearance from DBM before the funds are released,” he said. 

Some of the items labeled as congressional insertions or initiatives are for the promotion of alternative fuels and technologies development and utilization and energy efficiency and conservation worth P150 million for the Department of Energy;  protective services for individuals and families in especially difficult circumstances worth P401.5 million for the Department of Social Welfare and Development and miscellaneous projects for the Philippine Army, Air Force and Navy totaling P455.5 million. 

“The manner in which these questionable items were secretly inserted in the budget, and the fact that said items do not have details on how they will be utilized, all point to one indisputable fact: that these items are, for all intents and purposes, pork barrel,” Ridon said.

He said he suspects the P4.8 billion is just the tip of the iceberg. 

He expressed concern that Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and the Aquino administration were able to conceal other pork barrel funds in the national budget.

‘Accountable governance’

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the Aquino administration is “firmly committed to open, transparent and accountable governance, especially in terms of judicious allocation and proper disbursement of public funds.”

Coloma was reacting to the claim of Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares that next year’s budget has around P145 billion in pork barrel funds.

Colmenares said P97.4 billion of the amount is part of the special purpose funds and P50 billion spread out among various departments.

“That’s the problem when you shoot from the mouth, you expose your ignorance,” Abad said, referring to Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco’s claim that P581 billion in the 2016 budget is “campaign war chest” for the Liberal Party.

On former senator Panfilo Lacson’s claim that the 2016 budget has P424 billion in pork barrel funds, Abad said the former Yolanda rehabilitation chief should reach out to the DBM about his misgivings on the budget.

In an interview over radio dzMM yesterday, Lacson said the government has also more than P500 billion in unspent funds.

Former national treasurer Leonor Briones also warned about the presence of pork barrel funds that will be used for the elections.

At a news forum in Quezon City, Briones said the President has increased the lump sum Special Purpose Funds from P368.72 billion for this year to P430.43 billion next year without giving details.

“That’s P368.72 billion and P430.43 billion all under the sole discretion of the President. Only the President can release the amount and can decide where the money would go,” Briones told reporters.

She said Aquino also increased the allocation to local government units from P33.47 billion this year to P56.52 billion for 2016.

“The national spending plans for 2015 and 2016 were designed as election budgets,” Briones said.

Transparency 

Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian wants a more transparent accounting of the President’s P500-million intelligence fund and the more than P2 billion in Presidential Social Fund (PSF).  

“It would be a good legacy for P-Noy’s tuwid na daan if during his last 10 months in Malacañang a more transparent accounting of his PSF and intel funds will be made by his officials,” Gatchalian said. 

“The PSF can be considered as a presidential pork barrel since its disbursement is known only to Malacañang and does not undergo the usual post-audit scrutiny of the Commission on Audit (COA). This makes it susceptible to fund misuse especially now that elections are coming up,” he said.

“It’s about time that Congress, which has the power of the purse, make a scrutiny of the PSF and the P500-million intelligence fund to determine if these funds are being spent wisely by the Aquino administration, especially at a time when elections are just around the corner,” he added. 

The PSF is mainly sourced from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). Only the two government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) undergo COA scrutiny, but not their contributions to the PSF. 

Pagcor remits around P2 billion to the PSF annually and the PCSO around P900 million. The amount remitted to PSF is net of the two GOCCs’ salaries and monthly operating expenses plus the 23 percent tax being paid to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The P500-million presidential intelligence fund is under the item Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), which is headed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. 

Based on his budget proposal, the President will have P250 million for confidential expenses and another P250 million for intelligence expenses next year. He is only required to submit to the COA a certification stating in very general terms the purpose for which the money is used.

The P500 million is part of the nearly P2-billion appropriation for maintenance and other operating expenses for the Office of the President (OP).

The OP budget will increase by more than P200 million to P2.860 billion in 2016 from P2.602 billion this year. – With Delon Porcalla