Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Sunday said it is “lamentable” that politics is a consideration in the non-release of the P160-billion "FLR" (For Later Release) budget items, especially with the 2022 elections less than 10 months away.
He noted that items marked "FLR" mean they can only be released upon the authority of the President or the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary or any other official acting on the authority of the President.
Conceding that the execution of laws, which includes the release of funds in the budget, is a prerogative of the President under the Constitution, Drilon still stressed that such prerogative is intended to be exercised for the public good, and not based on partisan politics.
"Why are P160 billion in infrastructure and social amelioration programs marked ‘FLR’ are not released, and yet P16.5 billion in anti-insurgency funds were immediately released in the first quarter?" asked Drilon.
"Clearly, the priorities in the release of the funds are flawed," the senator said.
Sen. Sonny Angara also questioned congressmen for being selective in the release of the budget, as he cited the need for “collaborated efforts to achieve our goals.”
"We have been doing everything to help the Executive, especially in the passage of Bayanihan 2, and the Vaccination Act of 2021," said Angara, chair of the Senate Finance Committee.
"We hastily passed them (a budget) so the complaints here (are odd) — why were others choosing on which budget should be released or not?" he said.
Angara cited the urgency of passing the budget for programs that would have stimulus effects.
"What we were talking about (is) Bayanihan 1 and 2, and the intention was for the government to spend," he said, adding that the private sector that was supposed to help our economy suffered a major blow due to the pandemic.
"It will take up the slack of the private sector, since the consumer demand dropped, many lost jobs and many no longer spend,” he added.
According to Drilon, “these funds are needed by our people who need assistance due to the pandemic.”
He also said government projects and programs designed to stimulate and expand the economy are not being implemented, and that 20% of the country's GDP is attributable to government spending.
Drilon considered the non-release of funds as a wasted opportunity to help create jobs and grow the economy. "There seems to be no sense of urgency," he added.
