Palace defends 2016 budget

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday defended the proposed national budget for next year amid allegations it was laden with lump sums and provisions that would allow juggling of funds the administration can use for the elections.

Deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte denied allegations the bill’s approval was railroaded, saying there had been lengthy discussions on the measure.

“To us in the executive that’s also considered another thesis defense, to face our fellows in Congress to be able to defend our agency or office budget,” Valte said.

She said the Senate still has to scrutinize the House-approved bill.

Valte said opposition to the measure was expected, but since a majority of House members voted to approve it, the system at Congress must be respected.

Valte and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad thanked the House of Representatives led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. for passing House Bill 6132 on third and final reading Friday night.

“Careful consideration and prompt action on the administration’s budget proposal set the momentum for the timely passage of the General Appropriations Act of 2016,” Abad said.

He said the DBM values its partnership with Congress and appreciates its support for the administration’s commitment to craft a budget that is “not business-as-usual.”

He said House and the DBM worked together to produce a budget that buttressed the foundation for good governance reforms since 2010. 

“Through our combined efforts, we have ended a decade of frequent budget reenactments and started a new tradition of timely passage of the budget,” Abad said.

“We have produced a budget that moved away from the practice of incremental and leakage-prone allocation of scarce resources and lump-sum appropriations and moved toward performance-based outcome budgeting,” he added.

Abad said agencies also managed to swiftly implement priority programs and projects while communities now have a say on how funds may be used to address their needs.

 “We have hammered the nuts and bolts of key public financial management reforms in place but now we must ensure that they cannot be moved or lost,” he said.