Kabataan Rep: Palace eyes P251B savings

CEBU, Philippines - Kabataan Partylist Representative Terry Ridon has claimed that the Aquino administration is targeting an estimated P251.78 billion “savings” out of the 2014 budget.

Ridon, in a statement, said that the estimated savings is greater than the actual amount spent for the 116 projects under the Disbursement Acceleration Program, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional.

“Such huge savings targeted by the national government, the re-emergence of DAP or another DAP-like mechanism in the near future will likely occur,” he said.

Ridon said that this may prove to be the celebratory call of the members of the ruling Liberal Party (LP), as they toast for the higher budget allotted by the national government for various pet projects in Local Government Units  under the Grassroots Participatory Budgeting.

Ridon said that the assailed GPB, a mechanism which has been invariably branded as a “DAP clone” and “LP campaign kitty” will get a 4.5 percent or close to P1 billion increase next year, with the total proposed GPB budget for 2015 pegged at P20.9 billion.

This P20.9 billion budget for LGU projects, he said, is on top of the P501-billion “Special Purpose Funds” for 2015, which includes a P2.9-billion Local Government Support Fund.

The GPB was earlier criticized by Ridon for being “highly vulnerable to corruption” and containing a “DAP-like” provision that enables local government officials to cancel and replace projects already indicated in the annual General Appropriations Act.

“The Aquino administration cannot hide the fact that the 2015 GPB-funded projects are meant to boost LP’s election bid. A cursory analysis of the projects listed for 2015 reveal tons and tons of road construction, rehabilitation, and concreting,” Ridon said.

 In his House Resolution 1284 filed last July, Ridon explained that the implementing rules of the GPB gives LGUs the ability to cancel and replace certain programs and projects, a characteristic similar to that of DAP.

 “Replacing a project or program already approved by Congress through the GPB mechanism is thus illegal and unconstitutional,” Ridon stressed.  (FREEMAN)