THE proposed P3-trillion national budget for next year is vulnerable to abuse in the critical 2016 election year, according to the IBON Foundation Inc.
The group found large lump-sum suspiciously allocated for local governments in the national budget and claimed there was an apparent attempt to give the administration greater flexibility to declare savings and transfer funds in the middle of the year.
The result of the study came days after a member of the Makabayan Bloc in the House of Representatives expressed the possibility that the Aquino administration will use the 2016 budget as a war chest for the May 9, 2016 presidential polls.
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate believed that the administration would maximize the use of government resources to make its candidates under the ruling Liberal Party win and pass its priority measures such as the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
“These are all valid concerns and we urge the public to keep their vigilance on the historic P3- trillion national budget for 2016,” Zarate said.
Based on the study conducted by IBON Foundation, the National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted by the Aquino administration to Congress has greatly increased the amount of special purpose funds (SPFs), which the group described as notorious for having large lump-sum amounts that do not undergo congressional or public scrutiny.
“SPFs increased by a substantial P61.7 billion to reach P430.4 billion in the proposed 2016 budget,” IBON stated in its official website.
The research group said among the items is a “conspicuous 69% increase (P23.1 billion) in the allocation to local government units (LGUs) to P56.5 billion.”
The new SPF for LGUs includes an almost 500% increase (P15.3 billion) in a so-called local government support fund to P18.4 billion, from being just P3.1 billion in 2015. It is widely accepted that LGUs, up to the barangay level, are the base in ensuring electoral victories for national candidates especially in presidential races.
IBON also noted that the Department of Interior and Local Government under the supervision of Manuel Roxas II, who was recently endorsed by President Aquino as his presidential bet in the 2016 polls, also has budget items which appear inconsistent with its mandate to promote peace and order, ensure public safety, and strengthen local government capability.
“The proposed 2016 budget includes P8.3 billion for DILG housing, water and other community projects that are presumably the purview of other government agencies,” the group stated.
This includes P643 million for housing in the National Capital Region, P1.8 billion for water supply projects nationwide, P1.8 billion for community projects in armed conflict-affected areas, and P4.1 billion for bottom-up budgeting projects for water supply and other projects, IBON said.
Increased SPFs for LGUs and redundant DILG allocations disprove the administration’s claim that pork barrel items no longer exist in the national budget, the group added.
A number of lawmakers said that during elections, government resources and machinery are usually coursed through LGUs, which can be counted upon to deliver 20 percent of the votes.
Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, head of the House Independent Bloc, vowed to “exercise to the fullest” their role as legislators and fiscalizers in scrutinizing the 2016 national budget.
Romualdez said his bloc will check how next year’s national budget will be distributed to various programs.
“It’s our role to scrutinize the national budget for next year to guarantee that no funds are misused. We will dissect and analyze the contents of the national expenditures,” he said.
Last month, former senator Panfilo Lacson revealed that at least P424 billion in discretionary funds or lump-sum, which he said prone to corruption, can still be found in the 2015 budget.
Lacson, who tendered his irrevocable resignation late last year as rehabilitation czar in connection with the Super Typhoon Yolanda disaster, said he and his team discovered lump-sum appropriations while they were reviewing the 2015 General Appropriations Act.