(UPDATE 2) P200-M double entry bared in 2008 budget
By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 09:45:00 09/08/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- A multimillion-peso “congressional insertion” in the 2008 budget for the construction of the C-5 road project was disclosed by Senator Panfilo Lacson Monday during a budget hearing at the upper chamber.
Lacson told the Senate finance committee that the project, amounting to P200 million, was funded twice in this year’s budget.
Lacson said that on page 563 of the 2008 budget book, there was an entry of P200 million for the construction of the president Carlos Garcia road from the SLEX (Southern Luzon Expressway) to Sucat road and the same entry on page 646 for the same road construction.
"Yun pong C-5, ang pangalan ngayon Carlos Garcia. E double entry po, double release ang ginawa niyo [The C-5 road, its name now is Carlos Garcia. This is a double entry and therefore a double release]," he said.
“There are entries in the 2008 budget. How come? Why are you releasing P200 million for C-5 and then you are releasing again another P 200 million for Carlos P. Garcia road which is the same stretch?” he asked.
“Double dead ang Filipino dito dahil isang stretch ng kalsada, nagpalit lang ng pangalan P200 million ang na release niyo [It’s double dead for Filipinos because you released P200 million on the same stretch of road whose name has changed],” he further said.
But Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya said the only proposal that came from Malacañang was the first entry, and the second was an insertion by Congress.
“This is a congressional insertion. We never asked for this,” Andaya told the committee.
Responding to Andaya, Lacson said, “Then we must find out who is responsible. He should be charged with graft.”
“Wala hong graft dahil hindi po namin ni-release yan [There is no graft because the money has not been released],” Andaya countered.
“Hindi po namin mare-release yun dahil [We cannot release that because] there’s a mechanism in DBM [Department of Budget and Management] that assures that this thing should not happen,” he said.
But Andaya said that he would confirm whether the money was not released.
“Please don't release,” Lacson said.
Before this, Lacson questioned Andaya about the annual savings of the government amounting from P80 to P177 billion from its personal services (PS).
“Year after year, we’re encountering budget deficits of how much? P75 billion to P80 billion? If we utilize the savings out of personal services, we could forget about deficits. We could easily balance the budget,” he said.
“Ano bang nangyayari sa savings mula sa [What is happening to the savings from the] PS?” he asked.
Andaya confirmed that the government had indeed “substantial” savings from PS but said the money had been used for the Christmas bonuses of government officials.
“I can answer that question. It goes to the Christmas bonus. That’s where it goes,” he said.
“Because every year, when we announce a Christmas bonus of P5,000 or P6,000, the DepEd [Department of Education] does not ask DBM for an NCA or allocation to cover for that particular Christmas bonus. So that ‘s an incidental benefit,” he said.
At the same budget hearing earlier on Monday, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves urged Congress to pass revenue enhancement measures to recover the estimated foregone funds from the passage of at least two measures providing tax exemptions to low wager earners.
Teves pushed particularly for the immediate passage of the proposed rationalization of fiscal incentives and simplifying the sin tax structure.
While the government projected P1.4 trillion in total revenues in 2009, Teves pointed out the estimated revenue loss of P11 billion with the implementation of the Personal Equity Retirement Plan or EPIRA and another P15 billion from a measure providing tax relief for minimum wage earners.
"We, therefore, [are] urgently requesting Congress to support us of the proposed revenue enhancement measures," Teves told the Senate finance committee.
"We're hopeful that with the continued support of Congress, we will be able to overcome the challenges," he added.
Aside from Andaya and Teves, also present at the hearing by the Senate finance committee were National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Ralph Recto, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr.
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