Budget hearing: Abad disputes claims Aquino to get pork

By: Marc Jayson Cayabyab - 10 years ago

MANILA, Philippines—Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad disputed claims that President Benigno Aquino III would enjoy pork barrel funds in the proposed P2.6 trillion national budget for next year.

During the Development Budget Coordinating Committee hearing at the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Abad responded to the question of a known Aquino ally, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, who asked about the president’s supposed P500-billion “pork barrel” funds.

Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad and President Benigno Aquino. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Abad said critics might have been referring to about P380 billion in special purpose funds (SPF) and P123 billion in unprogrammed funds.

But these cannot be called pork barrel funds because the president does not have discretion to allocate these funds, Abad said.

He added that in the SPF, funds for calamities and contingency, as well as rehabilitation and reconstruction, are not itemized, hence their term “lump sum” funds.

Lump sum funds usually pertain to the graft-ridden Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) that lawmakers and President Aquino had used at their discretion, respectively, before the Supreme Court declared the PDAF and the DAP unconstitutional.

“There’s a reason these are not aggregate. We can’t predict calamities. These funds are lump sum in nature,” Abad said.

“I’m surprised they’re called presidential pork when the president has no discretion over this,” he added.

The budget committee, chaired by Abad in representing Aquino finance team, is composed of the country’s economic managers, among them Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Internal Revenue chief Kim Henares, National Economic and Development Authority Director General Arsenio Balisacan, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amado Tetangco Jr.

The committee aims to assess the overall economic targets, expenditure levels, revenue projection and the financing plan in relation to the national budget.