Santiago: Senate budget version ‘wards off evil’

By: Aries Joseph Hegina - 10 years ago

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Thursday said she was satisfied with the Senate version of the national budget which had been amended to “ward off evils” that she warned against.

“Yes, I am satisfied with the budget,” Santiago said at the sidelines of her public lecture on corruption at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

Santiago had criticized the Congress version of the budget earlier for containing lump sum funds and for retaining the Malacañang definition of savings.

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, chair of the finance committee, had said the Senate version would revise the Malacañang definition so that savings could only be declared once a government project is finished.

“That is the technicality which Senator Escudero and I agreed,” Santiago said.

“My objection is this: we define savings as any act of discontinuance or disallowance. Then you can stop a project at any time then resume it next year or some other time. So with this amendment, that will no longer be possible,” she added.

“I agree, therefore, that the mere insertion of the word ‘final discontinuance’ or ‘final disapproval’ will serve to ward off any evils that I have been warning against,” Santiago said.

Despite these safeguards, however, the senator said that the decision to have a “pork-less” budget still lies in the hands of the executive branch.

“It is not for anyone to give that assurance, just the President and the secretary of the Department of Budget and Management,” Santiago said.

The senator lamented that politicians who want to pocket public funds would continue to find ways despite the safeguards they have placed.

“If there’s a will, there’s a way. If people want to get money illegally from the budget, they will always cover it up until it is discovered maybe a year later or sometime later,” Santiago said.

The Senate approved its version of the proposed P2.6-trillion national budget on Wednesday night.