The budget as a lethal political armament
Until now the budget has not been signed by President Duterte. His attempt to intervene proved futile. Senate President Sotto and Senator Lacson are charging Speaker GMA and House appropriations chairman Andaya of inserting more than P98 billion in pork barrel into the general appropriations act. This was denied by the House leaders but many Filipinos believe the Senate president is more credible than the speaker. Thus, it is possible we shall have a reenacted budget till after elections. This is actually a blessing in disguise for the ruling coalition. It’s a good political tool for the administration. They will have more flexibility. It’s the opposition that will be put in a more difficult position.
It has been said, and not without some grain of wisdom, that a budget demonstrates the ancient adage called the new Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules. This is the reason why the ruling coalition always has the advantage. They control the money. The opposition keeps on attacking orally, but the administration controls the logistics. That is also the reason why traditional politicians always change their party affiliations. They always jump to the bandwagon of the party in power. They want to be aligned where the money is. There is no principle involved whatsoever. No scruples. That is traditional politics. And that is the politics of most Philippine politicians, including, if I may stress, the politicians in Cebu, and those representing Cebu congressional districts. You ask them why they aligned with the party in power. No principles are involved.
The budget is not just an economic plan but a political weapon, especially in an election year. The congressmen who could bring home the bacon to their constituents would most probably get the support of the voters. The P3.8-trillion national budget shows that the DPWH is getting the biggest net increase in the whopping amount of P32.923 billion on top of its allocation last year. And this is the department that is well-known as the conduit of pork barrel. The DOH gets an increment of P21.52 billion additional appropriation. The DOLE gets an unprecedented hike of much more than what DepEd is getting at P2.521 billion increment to its budget.
In the budget hearings, Malacañan played its cards well, given the rather sanctimonious behavior of the former majority leader, Andaya, now House budget honcho, who kept hitting Budget Secretary Diokno above and below the belt. Andaya got sacked as majority leader but he retains the budget committee. Soon, he will be out of Congress. And he may not even win over Villafuerte as governor of Camarines Sur. Diokno gets the plum as Central Bank governor. The rather unwieldy budget deliberations towards the end of last year also revealed that the relationship between Malacañan and Speaker GMA must have soured a bit. Andaya is nothing but a mouthpiece of GMA. He could not have been hitting Diokno without GMA’s blessing.
We all know that Cabinet members are alter egos of Duterte. Thus when GMA, via Andaya, hit Diokno, she was actually hitting Duterte. The uproar in the House caused someone in the palace to comment that if it was Alvarez who remained speaker, Duterte would have signed the budget before Christmas. Budget means money and power. Well, after the elections, Allan Peter Cayetano will take over as speaker. GMA might become Budget secretary. If she behaves well, that is. Well, that is politics for you.
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