The Senate Finance committee led by chairperson Sen. Sonny Angara on Monday said that the budget allocations for calamity, health system due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the internet would be top priorities when Senate starts its deliberations on the P4.5-billion budget next year.
Angara said that starting today (Tuesday), he will report out to the Senate the 2021 national budget through a sponsorship speech.
"And then traditionally, the next day, Wednesday, the interpellation and debates on the budget among the members of the Upper Chamber (will begin)," said Angara.
According to Angqra, they are looking at calamity funds as they're not sufficient due to the many disasters that hit the country for this year and for the past years "so definitely, the funds should be bigger for 2021.
"Secondly, the health system natin although the numbers (of Covid-199 cases are being better every day; the number of Covid-19 victims are much better compared to the past months."
But he admitted that the country is still in the middle of a health crisis.
"We still do not have the vaccine. The state of emergency will not be lifted," Angara added.
He said they will also focus on the internet system because the national broadband is very much needed during these time.
"At nasa dako po tayo na hindi talaga 100 percent coverage tayo sa buong bansa," Angara said.
The senator said the Senate aims to pass the budget on third and final reading on November 24. They will then convene the Bicameral Conference Committee November 26 until December 1.
"Sa Disyembre ay dapat maipadala na kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang budget upang kanyang mapirmahan bago matapos ang taon at matiyak na magagamit na sa January 1, 2021," said Angara.
But Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon pointed to the ‘insufficient budget of health and social service sectors’ as well as the grossly inadequate funding for the procurement and administration of the eventual Covid-19 vaccines and the lack of a financial aid to support families badly affected by the pandemic.
Drilon said the proposed P4.5 trillion spending outlay for next year, which will be sponsored on the floor Tuesday, lacks enough funds and programs that can help restore the people’s confidence in the country’s health system.
“Our economic recovery will depend on the confidence of the public in the government’s ability to provide our people with protection from the Covid-19. Kung walang tiwala ang taumbayan sa ating health programs, matatakot silang lumabas at kapag hindi lumabas, there is no economic activity, and when there is no economic activity, there is no recovery,” Drilon said in a Zoom interview with Senate media Monday.
“Therefore, the key is to restore public confidence in the health systems, in our ability to combat the pandemic and keep our people safe. Unfortunately, I do not see that policy being pursued in the 2021 budget,” he said.
“The 2021 budget cannot be a ‘business-as-usual’ budget. This is an extraordinary time – the government is confronted with the very heavy responsibility of addressing numerous challenges brought by the pandemic, the typhoons and other natural calamities that hit the country, as well as ballooning housing backlog,” Drilon.
If the budget priorities are not set straight, Drilon said the recovery will take longer than necessary.
“My view is that it will take us longer, if not impossible if we follow the skewed priorities in the 2021 budget. The recovery of the economy depends on our ability to fight the pandemic, and the restoration of consumer confidence depends heavily on a stronger and resilient health system. But the proposed 2021 budget does not support that thrust,” he said.
He cited, for instance, the insufficient funding for vaccine procurement. The National Expenditures Program only allotted P2.5-B. While it is increased in the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) to P8 billion, the funding is still not enough.
Drilon explained that the country will need at the minimum P16 billion for next year to immunize at least half of the 60 to 70 million Filipinos that need to be immunized.
The minority leader, however, said the proposed budget still gives the highest priority to the security sector instead of the health and social services.
Under the proposed 2021 national budget, the Department of Health is set to receive P131-B, net of funds for the Universal Healthcare Act – lower than its current total appropriation of P181-B, including additional funding from the Bayanihan 1 and 2.
The social welfare department, meanwhile, will only receive P171.2-B, with no funding for the much-needed social amelioration program, commonly referred to as ayuda.
On the other hand, the defense sector will receive a huge allocation of P209.1-B while the Department of the Interior and Local Government is allocated with P246.1-B, placing them in the top 3 and 4, respectively, in terms of departments with the highest allocation. The DSWD and the DOH only placed 5th and 6th, respectively.
“This is what I am saying – that our priorities are skewed in this budget. We need more funds for the social aspects of governance rather than the security aspects. I am not saying that we do not need to support our security sector,” he said.
The minority leader said it will do no harm if the P19-B anti-insurgency funds are postponed to 2022 or the funds are channeled to much-needed and urgent programs, including the vaccine procurement, ayuda, housing needs and calamity response.
“The typhoon Rolly caused a damage of P15-B and there is another typhoon coming that is expected to cause extensive damage. The 2021 NEP did not anticipate that. Therefore, we must have a bigger budget to address these calamities,” he said.
“We also need to address our housing backlogs. We now need 6.4 M housing units to address this problem. If we do not provide funds where our mouth is, we will have a problem. We need about P24-B to partially address the housing needs in 2021. We must address this partially so it does not become a crisis,” he said.
Drilon said realigning the anti-insurgency funds to specific urgent needs of the country today will also resolve constitutional issues that may soon arise, given that lumpsum appropriation and post-enactment intervention are prohibited by virtue of the Supreme Court ruling on the pork barrel case.
“You should not have post–enactment intervention. This prohibition should apply to both the executive and the legislative. We cannot have a lumpsum and leave to the NTF-ELCAC the authority to point to the projects and barangays where these funds will be devoted. The NTF-ELCAC intervention after the budget approval, these are post-budget interventions, which, according to the SC, are not permitted in our system,” the minority leader pointed out.
Meanwhile, Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday backed the proposed budget for 2021 of the government's task force to end communist insurgency.
"I'll join Senate President Sotto's call to retain the PHP16.4-billion allocations to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict," Lacson said in a statement.
In explaining his decision to support the budget, Lacson pointed out that the fund "is not even at the disposal" of the security sector since it is part of the Special Purpose Fund under the Assistance to Local Government Units and is intended to hold and develop barangays that are cleared of New People's Army influence.
The budget will fund development programs such as farm-to-market roads and livelihood, as part of confidence-building to prevent the insurgency problem from returning.
He also hopes that through these programs, affected barangays will no longer be vulnerable to attempts by the NPA to recruit members, especially from indigenous peoples.
"Pagkakataon ito pati sa mga NPA sa mga lugar na ito na magbagong-buhay (This is also a chance for NPA members in these are to lead a new life)," Lacson said.
In a Senate hearing on red-tagging chaired by Lacson last week, it was said that the communist terrorist groups (CTG) collect up to P300 million annually through extortion from telecommunication companies in the country.
The CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front) can make Smart and Globe pay P200 to P300 million, said Jeffrey "Ka Eric" Celiz, a former NPA cadre who served the movement for 27 years.
Celiz said that aside from telcos, the NPA can also make "triple A" from contractors who pay protection money.
The payments, he said, were made through bank remittances transacted outside the Philippines.
He added 40 percent of the protection money goes to CPP central committee while 60 percent goes to regional operations.
Celiz added that the extortion activities “are able to circumvent the Anti-Money Laundering Council” since these funds are coursed through an established network of conduit non-government organizations coming from Belgium and the Netherlands in Europe.
In the same hearing, Senate President Vicente Sotto said the extortion activities by the communist groups could be the reason why telco firms prefer to put up cell sites in military installations. With PNA