Senate wants more money to fight global terror threat

Senators are pushing for an augmented budget for the Department of National Defense (DND) in 2016 amid concerns for the country’s security in the wake of the global terror threat.

If he were to have his way, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said the Senate should add as much as P20 billion to the DND’s proposed P116.2-billion budget for 2016.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin was asked Wednesday to return to the Senate within the day to submit his department’s proposal for an additional budget after the senators agreed there was a need to augment the proposed DND allocation for 2016.

During interpellations on the DND budget being defended by Sen. Loren Legarda, Enrile asked whether the defense department budget was reflective of the government’s concern about the country’s security.

Legarda said the proposed DND budget was “not sufficient” given the “multifarious threat not only domestically but internationally and in the region.”

She said the DND had originally sought a budget of P202.3 billion  from the Department of Budget and Management but it was reduced to P116.3 billion.

Enrile then suggested for the augmentation of the DND budget “in order to secure the safety and security of the Filipino people given the security environment.”

Legarda, the finance committee chair, said she had already augmented the DND budget through amendments on her committee report and these included an additional P250 million for the Quick Response Fund.

But she said  she was “open” to augment the budget further “within the limits of the P3.002-trillion proposed national budget.”

Legarda also announced that the senators have realigned part of the DND budget  to include P4 billion to pay the war veterans.