News

September 30, 2008

Social Watch Philippines identify budget provisions vulnerable to manipulation and abuse

Social Watch Philippines (SWP), the civil society network which organized the Alternative Budget Initiative which is recognized worldwide as one of the best practices in budget advocacy, urged Congress to erase the vague and highly discretionary items in the national budget which are vulnerable to manipulation and abuse.

The Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI), a nationwide consortium of 50 non-government organizations advocating for better allocations for social development,  presented their alternative budget proposals for the 2009 national budget to the House Committee on Appropriations and the House Minority Group today (September 30). They included the alternative sources of funding to better finance programs for health, education, agriculture, and environment.

"Making the budget process transparent and not subject to abuse and discretion of only one person will prove that we have a budget that truly works for the people and respect democracy," said Social Watch Philippines convenor Leonor Briones.

Briones said that the alternative sources of funding for social development are appropriations in the National Expenditure Programs which have neither details nor special provisions on the use of funds and are subject to Presidential discretion. This includes the Special Purpose Funds (SPF) which accounts for more than half of the proposed budget for 2009.

"Many lump-sum appropriations in the SPF are highly discretionary, some with vague or even no special provisions, making it prone to frivolous utilization," Briones said. "The large amount of SPF can effectively distort sectoral and regional priorities approved by Congress. It also weakens the ability of Departments and agencies to strategically program spending for their respective services," the former national treasurer added.

According to Rene Raya of Action for Economic Reforms (AER) and also a convenor of SWP, the group is calling for the transfer of several fund items under the SPF to specific allocations for social development.

This includes:

  • Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Funds amounting to P41 Billion which is subject to the discretion of the President for any salary increase or benefits provided by law. ABI proposed a special provision to allocate P20 Billion from this item for benefits of teachers and health workers provided by existing laws and without appropriations.

  • Kalayaan Barangay Program amounting to P1 Billion. According to the ABI, the use of funds for "approved infrastructure projects" overlaps with functions of other agencies. The fund is also subject to the discretion of the President.

  • Kilos Asenso Support Fund amounting to P1 Billion which duplicates functions with several government agencies, highly discretionary and is prone to inefficient use of resources.

  • Contingent Fund amounting to P800 Million. The ABI called for transfer of P200 Million from this fund to specific social development projects because this budget item includes the cost of local and foreign travels of the President which already has appropriations under the budget of the Office of the President. 

  • Unprogrammed Fund Purpose 5: Support for Infrastructure Projects and Social Programs amounting to P30.5 Billion which does not have any special provisions on the use and administration of fund. ABI calls on Congress to transfer P20 Billion from this fund to programs supporting the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which is the commitment of governments to end the worst forms of human deprivation.

  • Unprogrammed Fund Purpose 2: Strategic Government Reforms amounting to P2 Billion.  This has no clear cut mechanisms on the use of funds. Among the intended purpose of the fund is the improvement of operational, training and logistics capacity and staff development are already incorporated under the Agencies' budget. The ABI instead call on the transfer of funds to programs for public sector-civil society partnership for policy and organizational development for a more transparent and accountable budget process.

  • Unprogrammed Fund Purpose 3: Support to Foreign-Assisted Projects amounting to P16.4 Billion. Unlike the same item in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) in 2008, this item in the National Expenditure Program for 2009 has no details on specific items to be funded by this allocation. The ABI suggests that P7 Billion from this fund be transferred to social development projects.

  • The ABI also suggests that "Confidential and Intelligence Expenses" under the Offices of the President and Vice President totaling to the amount of P300 Million be utilized for specific social programs instead.

 "We call on Congress to rework President Gloria Arroyo's proposed national budget for 2009 by erasing questionable allocations and transferring more funds for social development programs," Raya said. 

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