Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce-Enrile. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Let’s call a spade a spade, so said Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce-Enrile, who described the rationalization move of oversight committees in the Senate as an “equalization” measure.
Enrile on Monday questioned the rationalization move now being implemented by Senate President Franklin Drilon that he said would result to an annual P20 million additional budget of each senator, on top of their regular budgets for offices and committees.
While the move would generate savings amounting to about P32.5 million in 2013, he said, the minority bloc felt that it “falls short in showing the public that this is the result of some real and honest to goodness soul-searching” of the Senate and its members.
“This supposed ‘rationalization’ of the budgets of oversight committees is actually an equalization measure,” Enrile said.
“It subtracts from those senators whose current oversight committee budgets are higher than P20 million (whether in one oversight committee or in multiple chairmanships) and it adds to those who either have budgets lower than P20 million regardless of whether a senator chairs one or none.”
Enrile was referring to the Senate’s decision to trim down the number of oversight committees from more than 30 to 19 with an annual budget of P20 million each. The additional allocation will be given to the offices of the senators.
“If we were to assume that the senators uniformly need P20 million annually to carry out his or her committees’ functions, regardless of whether it’s for the regular legislative or for oversight, then we must call a spade a spade and tell the people that we are actually increasing our operational budgets by P20 million annually,” he said.
The move, Enrile said, “discriminates against those oversight committees which have been performing compared to the others who have not been functioning nor even meeting.”
“Moreover, through a sweeping equalization” which variably results in the sweeping abolition of staff positions devoid of any standard or rationale, should we not also be mindful to accord fair and just treatment to those staff and personnel who have actually and dutifully been rendering their services and performing their jobs under these committees?” he asked.
“For the above reasons and reservations, the members of the opposition bloc who do not chair oversight committees have resolved not to accept additional MOOE and to let the same allocation to their offices be made part of the savings of the Senate,” the opposition leader added.
MOOE stands for maintenance and other operating expenses.
When the rationalization move was discussed at a senators’ caucus, Enrile said the minority group did not vote in favor of it and awaited Drilon’s memorandum or policy issuance it.
“But the Honorable Senate President, instead of issuing a public order, preferred to go straight to implementing the changes by advising the senators’ offices, henceforth, each office was to receive an additional monthly MOOE of P1.667 million,” he lamented.