Senate to start scrimping

Sen. Ralph Recto INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The new Senate leadership is reviewing the chamber’s expenditures, such as reducing the number of so-called oversight committees, in response to the public furor earlier this year over the grant of Christmas bonuses to the senators using public funds.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, a key ally of President Benigno Aquino III, said the senators wanted to be more prudent in their spending and keen to spend less.

To achieve this, Recto said the senators planned to fund only 20 “relevant” oversight committees out of the current 35, and provide them with uniform budgets.

After all, the law doesn’t say that all these had to be funded, he said.

One example of an irrelevant committee would be that on the Special-Purpose Vehicle Act, he said.

“We have to be sensitive to public sentiment. We’re representatives of the people,” Recto said.

The matter has yet to be taken up with the minority senators, however. When the 16th Congress opened last Monday, key Malacañang ally Franklin Drilon was elected Senate President, and Juan Ponce Enrile, the former Senate President, was chosen minority leader.

Enrile had admitted to granting P1.6 million in additional maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) to 18 senators last Christmas. Four other senators received P250,000 each.

Part of the money came from the funds allotted for the 24th seat vacated by President Aquino when he assumed the presidency in June 2010, which were converted into MOOE.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. also admitted giving P500,000 in MOOE to each of the 283 House members during the holidays. Some of the recipients considered it a bonus.

On Friday, the new Senate majority continued to apportion committee chairmanships to administration allies.

Neophyte Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara was appointed chair of the committee on ways and means, as well as of the committee on games and amusement.

“We welcome this new challenge to lead the committee on ways and means as the new chair. Of course we would like to concentrate our efforts at polishing and improving fiscal measures to ensure that the need for additional revenue is always balanced with the protection of our underprivileged from undue tax burdens,” he said in a statement.