EDITORIAL - Budget transparency

If this administration is sincere in its commitment to fight corruption, it should open the utilization of public funds to public scrutiny. That kind of transparency promotes public accountability and good governance. But lawmakers said that for the second time, Malacañang has removed a clause in the proposed P1.4-trillion budget for 2009 that will allow taxpayers to look closely at how their money is being spent.

The “right to information” clause is important particularly in a year when government programs and projects are expected to be used by many politicians for partisan purposes, to buy support, earn commissions and boost their political stock before the official campaign period starts early next year.

The clause was included in the proposed national budget in 2007 but was vetoed by the Office of the President. The proposal was not revived in the 2008 budget, but was again included in the 2009 appropriations bill. Some lawmakers had hoped that the clause would be among several measures that would help prevent a repeat of the fertilizer scam and other scandals involving fund misuse.

Of particular concern to these lawmakers are lump-sum appropriations for 2009 such as P9.4 billion for rice, P6 billion for irrigation and P3.7 billion for farm-to-market roads in the budget of the Department of Agriculture. Malacañang apparently has a different idea and prefers the status quo. The “right to information” clause has disappeared in the Palace-endorsed version of the 2009 budget.

That should pull the country further down in its ranking in an international survey on budget transparency. The survey was conducted by the Washington-based International Budget Partnership in coordination with media and research agencies in 85 countries. The Open Budget Survey 2008 noted that while the Philippine government provides “a somewhat comprehensive picture” of its revenue and expenditure plan, “it is difficult to track spending, revenue collection and borrowing… and assess budget performance once the budget year is over.”

A Freedom of Information Act could improve transparency, but Philippine lawmakers, who have consistently resisted efforts to bring transparency to the utilization of their pork barrel, have sat on the freedom of information bill. The “right to information” clause could improve budget transparency, but Malacañang is not interested.