Congress realigns P26 B in 2016 budget

MANILA, Philippines – Congress has realigned a total of P26.4 billion in the P3.002-trillion national budget for this year.

The realignments are reflected in the voluminous budget, which the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) started posting on its website yesterday.

The changes are increases and decreases Congress introduced in the appropriations for agencies and special purpose funds.

The biggest realignment is P7.442 billion, which was added to the funding for the planned salary increase of government personnel this year. The augmentation brought the total to P58 billion.

An additional P6.042 billion was given to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), increasing its budget to P384.387 billion.

More than 100 state universities and colleges received P2.744 billion more, bringing their funding to P47.415 billion.

Other huge realignments are P1.203 billion for the Department of Agriculture (DA), P597 million for the Department of Health (DOH), P1.667 billion for the Department of National Defense, P1.839 billion for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and P591 million for the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Since lawmakers are prohibited by the Constitution from increasing the total annual budget proposed by the President, they made a zero-sum balancing of realignments, meaning whatever was gained by one agency, appropriation or fund was lost by another, and the net effect on the outlay is zero.

In some cases, while realignments were made in a particular agency, some appropriations were also slashed. In the case of the DA, P1.203 billion was realigned but there were reductions amounting to P637.9 billion, or a net change of P564.8 million.

For the DOH, there is a net reduction of P760.6 million, bringing down its budget to P123.5 billion. Some P1.358 billion was cut, of which P597 million was realigned.

For the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, there is a net cut of P1 billion. A total of P2.087 billion was taken away, of which P1.087 billion was returned and realigned.

Funding for the National Economic and Development Authority was decreased by P1.2 billion to P5.638 billion.

Budget watchdog Social Watch said many of the changes Congress introduced in the 2016 budget are pork barrel funds of lawmakers and the President.

According to Social Watch, the pork barrel funds lawmakers allegedly inserted in Aquino’s budget proposal, known as the National Expenditure Program (NEP), include the following:

• P326 million for farm-to-market road projects under the DA (P7.377 billion from P7.051 billion in NEP);

• P987.930 million for assistance to indigent patients under the DOH-Office of the Secretary (P2.783 billion from P1.795 billion in NEP);

• P2.54 billion for government internship program and Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers Project under the Department of Labor and Employment-Office of the Secretary (P3.267 billion from P727.3 million in NEP);

• P403 million for training-for-work under the DOLE-Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (P2.206 billion from P2.203 billion in NEP);

• P1.248 billion for local infrastructure under the DPWH-Office of the Secretary (P19.813 billion from P18.566 billion in NEP);

• P5.382 billion for protective services under the DSWD-Office of Secretary (P6.698 billion from P1.315 billion in NEP);

• P144 Million for Tulong Dunong Program under the Commission on Higher Education (P1.130 billion from P986.231 million in NEP);

• P662.538 million for financial assistance to local government units under the Local Government Support Fund in the Allocation to Local Government Units (P862.538 million from P200 million in NEP).