Joseph Emilio Abaya. LYN RILLON
The House of Representatives swiftly approved the P2.006-trillion 2013 national budget proposal on third and final reading with a 195-6 vote Monday afternoon.
Outgoing House appropriations chairman Joseph Emilio Abaya, who is moving on to the Department of Transportation and Communications as its secretary, allayed concerns the money measure was meant to help administration allies running in the 2013 polls.
“This will come out by the time the Commission on Elections ban will kick in. Majority of the appropriations in the 2013 budget won’t affect the election. It’s the 2012 budget that is the real election budget. But again, that doesn’t imply it will be used for partisan purposes,” Abaya told reporters.
The proposal features a higher budget for infrastructure and for the administration’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program for the poor.
Abaya also said the approved budget cleared up the status of the P22-billion Priority Social and Economic Projects Fund (PSEPF).
The PSEPF is a lump sum that comprises allocations for special projects of various agencies that have not been put under their respective budgets because the project proposals lacked details.
2013 election worries
Critics say the fund could be used for the 2013 elections, given the administration’s control over the release of the money.
But Abaya said that during budget deliberations, various agencies submitted the particulars of their projects that fell under the PSEPF.
With all the project details completed, the amounts initially placed under the PSEPF reverted to respective agencies, along with the breakdown of how the funds would be spent.
Abaya also said that the lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, remained intact, although the lawmakers added another item to the menu of projects for which they could use the fund.
A member of the House is allowed P70 million a year from the PDAF.
The pork barrel can now be used for the Development Academy of the Philippines to train barangay (village) officials.
The Aquino administration has proposed setting aside P409.8 billion for infrastructure outlays, including allocations for government-owned and -controlled corporations, for 2013.
The budget for the CCT was expanded to P44.256 billion to cover 3.8 million households.
The six lawmakers who objected to the budget were Gabriela Representatives Luz Ilagan and Emmi de Jesus, Siquijor Rep. Orlando Fua, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casino, Act Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio and Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano.