Two party-list congressmen on Monday asked the House of Representatives to scrutinize government borrowings after noting that about 25 percent of the current national budget is alloted to debt servicing.
Citizens Battle Against Corruption nominees Eddie Villanueva and Domeng Rivera in a statement urged Congress “to act on measures seeking to exert stricter and more judicious scrutiny and oversight on debt management.”
“Though we acknowledge the reality that loans are really a lucrative source of cash nowadays in view of the weakened fiscal position of the government due to COVID-19 pandemic, we must still continue to exert proper and reasonable oversight over the borrowing behavior of the government. We now have the propensity to acquire more loans to finance public programs,” said Villanueva, the Deputy Speaker on Good Governance and Moral Uprightness.
The Bureau of Treasury earlier said that the national government’s outstanding debt reached a new high of P11.07 trillion as of end of May 2021. According to the report, 71.5 percent were domestic borrowings and the rest, or 28.5 percent, sourced abroad.
The country’s outstanding debt experienced a sharp increase starting last year due to the pandemic.
From P7.731 trillion by end of 2019, it rose to P9.8 trillion by end of 2020 – an increase of around P2.5 trillion within a year. Then, it increased again by around P1.27 trillion in the first 5 months of 2021 thereby hitting the all-time high of P11.07 trillion by end-May 2021.
“I call on Congress to act on measures which aim to regulate the debt contracting by the government. To be the fiscalizer of executive actions on the issue of country’s debts is an integral part of our mandate and sworn duty to the people,” Villanueva added.
Several bills which seek to oversee the loan-contracting efforts of the governmentare pending in the House of Representatives. These proposals include creation of a designated body to handle debt management, constitution of a congressional oversight over foreign and domestic borrowing being made by the government, setting of a limit to borrowings that can be made by the government and amendment of laws providing for automatic appropriation for debt servicing.
CIBAC also filed House Resolution 1960 which calls for the immediate convening of the Congressional Oversight Committee on Official Development Assistance (COCODA) and urged the same to conduct an inquiry into some projects financed by loans from China which are allegedly riddled with terms disadvantageous to the Philippine government.
Meanwhile, a female legislator on Monday welcomed the passage of a bill that institutionalizes people’s participation in the deliberations of the annual budget in Congress.
Before the sine die adjournment, the House of Representatives approved on second reading House Bill 7407 or An Act Institutionalizing The Participation of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the Preparation and Authorization Process of the Annual National Budget, Providing Effective Mechanisms Therefor, and for Other Purposes.
The bill’s author, Rep. Florida Robes of San Jose Del Monte City, Bulacan said the bill will make the process more transparent and participatory through the involvement of grassroot organizations in all aspects of the budget cycle.