REPEAT OF 2004 FUND DIVERSIONS FEARED

P20B in SPF targeted anew for farm schemes

By Angie M. Rosales

01/04/2009

The Senate will place under scrutiny some P20 billion of mostly agricultural projects identified as so-called special purpose funds (SPF) in the proposed P1.415 trillion General Appropriations Bill or the budget for this year because of the questionable provisions for their use.

Opposition Sen. Pia Cayetano raised the alarm that such funds could be turned into “pork barrels” that would be subject only to the administration’s wide discretion.

The Senate just recently conducted probes into anomalous agricultural projects, primarily the P728-million fertilizer fund program and the P5 billion swine program that were suspected to have been mostly diverted to the campaign kitty of President Arroyo for the 2004 elections.

Public vigilance could play a crucial role in monitoring how the Arroyo administration will be spending the billions of pesos of discretionary funds under the proposed national budget for 2009, she said.

Cayetano, one of two senators who voted against the budget measure, objected to the inclusion of huge lump sum funds which she warned “will be left to the high discretion and control of the President.”

Citing figures from the non-government group Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI), Cayetano echoed the group’s concerns on the billions of pesos of “special purpose funds” that were allocated to the Office of the Secretary (OSEC) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) for its Agricultural and Fisheries and Modernization program.

SPF allocations include the P10.039 billion for the DA-OSEC “GMA (Ginintuang Masaganang Ani) Rice” program; P1.49 billion for the DA-OSEC “GMA Corn” program; P2.72 billion for the DA-OSEC “GMA High Value Crops” program, and P944 million for the “GMA Livestock” program.

She also cited the P5-billion conditional cash transfer (CCT) to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (P4).

The budget bill is still under consideration by the bicameral conference committee but is expected to be ratified this month when Congress resumes session.

“I definitely welcome the proposal of both chambers to form an oversight committee to track how the proposed budget will be spent, with 2009 being the run-up to the national elections in 2010,” said the woman lawmaker.

“But it is the vigilance of various sectors, including people’s organizations, media, the church, as well as the Commission on Audit, that could ultimately provide the best safeguard against any misspending or abuse, particularly with the lump sum funds.”

The lawmaker supported ABI’s position that the absence of special provisions specifying the mechanics for utilization of the funds could turn these funds into “pork barrel,” subject to the administration’s wide discretion.

“I don’t see any problems with social welfare funds as long as there are clear

and verifiable guidelines for its utilization and the identification of beneficiaries.”

Cayetano said the release of the funds could be tied to conditions related to the attainment of basic health and education targets, such as the country’s commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“Government should tie the release of these funds to achieving our MDGs which have specific targets in reducing child hunger, child and prenatal mortality, and so on. In fact, the entire national budget should be oriented towards achieving these goals, instead of government spending billions on unclear programs that are subject to presidential discretion,” she said.

Former National Treasurer Leonor Briones recently said the government budgetary system under the Arroyo administration has been manipulated to make it more prone to corruption, adding that there are provisions in the yearly budget that allows President Arroyo to manipulate the national budget to favor her whims and wishes.

Briones, convenor of Social Watch Philippines, accused Mrs. Arroyo of indiscriminately using savings and the refusal to release funds for social development.

“The budget system breeds corruption. Many budget items have no special provisions and are subject to the manipulation of only one person,” Briones, referring to Mrs. Arroyo, said. Briones did not elaborate on which government savings and funds for social development.

Among the funds under the General Appropriations Act that has been prone to corruption, Briones said, is the special purpose funds (SPF) that account for more than half of the national budget, Briones said even as she urged lawmakers to give priority to health, education, agriculture and the environment.

Briones warned that without giving priority to the four sectors could exacerbate the impending economic crisis. She said that budget reforms will protect millions of poor Filipinos from the global economic crisis.

“The latest survey of the Social Weather Station revealed that the proportion of families experiencing involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months reached a new record-high of 23.7%, or an estimated 4.3 million households,” she said.

“This new year, let us save millions of Filipinos from hunger by increasing the budget for social services as proposed by the Alternative Budget Initiative. More budget for education, agriculture, health and environment will mean more people with jobs and more families with food on the table,” Briones said.

Briones called on the Bicameral Conference Committee to adopt the people’s alternative budget proposals which realign vague and unreasonably big budget items to allocations for social services.

Briones also said that there is a need to reformulate the macroeconomic assumptions on the budget which are unattainable.

“The government should immediately implement budget reforms, especially with the looming economic crisis and the danger of our national budget becoming an election stimulus with the coming national elections,” Briones warned.

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