MANILA, Philippines -- Lump sum allocations such as the travel expenses of agencies and the "President's pork barrel" could suffer the cuts minority members in the House of Representatives will push as plenary debates on the proposed 2009 budget continue.

Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora on Friday reiterated that the proposed appropriation should be lower by P100 billion to P200 billion.

Malacañang has proposed a P1.4-trillion budget next year, a 15.3 percent increased from the 2008 budget.

"I think, roughly, our figures will show that there will be 100 or possibly 200 billion pesos that we could cut away and then come up with a still responsible budget that addresses the requirements of more infrastructure, which is coincidentally less pork, less fat on the body of the budget," Zamora told reporters in an interview.

He said the budget proposed by Malacañang is a "classic example of an election year budget" given the hefty increase of close to P300 billion.

"Clearly if you take a look at all of the figures, just look at the last, let's say, 12 years, you will find out that the spikes come in the year before elections, right now, the 2009 budget. If you're going to do any planning, you're not going to do it in the election year itself, you're going to do it a year before, which is exactly what this is, this is a classic example of an election year budget," Zamora said.

Zamora said any increase in the proposed budget should be something the government can afford given its revised macroeconomic assumptions in the face of the US financial crisis.

Asked how they intend to implement the cuts in the plenary debates, he said: "We're going to do it by agency, by programs, especially the lump sum funds."

The congressman said the budget for travel expenses of agencies could be a target for the slashes as well as the "president's pork barrel."

During budget deliberations at the committee and sub-committee levels, minority lawmakers have raised questions over the P7.7-billion budget to cover the travel expenses of 26 government agencies, up from P6.7 billion in the current budget or a 14.9-percent increase,.

Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez also cited the presence of a "new item" in the budget called the General Adjustment Fund, P1 billion supposedly meant to cover incremental costs in government operations arising out of foreign exchange fluctuations.

In an earlier report, former Senate president Franklin Drilon also said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo actually has a P13-billion ?pork barrel? allocation in the 2009 budget inserted into the social service sector budget.

The former senator said the funds to be placed at the President's disposal consist of cash assistance, rice subsidies, feeding and nutrition programs under the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Nutrition Council.

Asked if he favors a slash in the pork barrel funds of lawmakers, Zamora said: ?Umpisahan mo sa mga senador, yun ang malaki [Let?s start with the senators, they have larger funds]."

Each congressman gets P70 million in Priority Development Assistance Fund, popularly known as the pork barrel, while each senator gets P200 million.