Aquino economic team slammed over incomplete budget proposal

President Aquino’s economic team yesterday earned the ire of opposition lawmakers as Budget Secretary Florencio Abad tried to hide a big portion of the 2011 national budget from congressional scrutiny.

House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez said Abad had apparently tried to hide the big picture

of the national budget to the lawmakers when the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) failed to give details of some P711.5-billion in his presentation of the National Expenditure Program. The proposed budget for 2011 is P1.645 trillion.

Lagman noted that Abad had only delved on the new appropriations when he should have discussed automatic appropriations such as the debt service and the internal revenue allotment, continuing appropriations such as salaries, and all other kinds of appropriations such as net lending and tax refunds.

“This morning (Sept. 1) we were able to find out that the National Expenditure Program presented by the President did not include the entire expenditure of the government,” Lagman told a press conference.

He charged that the DBM’s intention was to deprive Ccongress the right and the authority to scrutinize other expenditures like continuing appropriations and automatic appropriations on the pretext that there are already enabling laws for these expenditures.

“That is not correct. That is an erratic presentation because Congress has the right to review even the automatic appropriations because the automatic and continuing appropriations have certain presumptions that may have not been followed,” Lagman stressed.

“They wanted to demean the power of Congress to go over these other items of expenditures and that was impliedly admitted this morning,” he said.

Lagman also noted that the Aquino administration backtracked on its earlier statement that they had inherited a bankrupt government.

“The general statement of the Development Budget Coordination Committee, (which is headed by Abad), members admitted that the Aquino administration inherited a relatively sound economy from the previous administration,” Lagman said.

“This is a far departure from earlier statements condemning the allegedly lacklustrer economic performance of the previous administration,” he said.

Lagman and Suarez said the previous administration did not bungle the economy.

According to Lagman, there should be complete transparency in the presentation of the national budget.

Malacañang’s economic team, for its part, defended the proposed P1.645-trillion national budget for 2011, described by the Aquino administration as a “reform budget” that will lift the nation from poverty through honest and effective governance.

Appearing before the initial public hearing by the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, Abad said the proposed 2011 national budget was earmarked to finance projects where it is much needed to benefit the people.

“We have redesigned the budget to ensure that every centavo will be put to good use,” the DBM chief told the House body chaired by Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya.

Abad said the proposed 2011 budget represents 18.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) which is a prudent level consistent with these governance principles.

He added a conservative five percent GDP growth rate is assumed even as government targets 7-8 percent growth.

He said the proposed budget for next year deficit is expected to be reduced by 10.8 percent to P290 billion, or 3.2 percent of GDP as against 3.9 percent in 2010.

“It would seem that we are reducing the size of the government. But what we are doing is to make government more relevant and responsive to the people,” the DBM chief said.

He said education, public health, social protection, housing and land distribution for the poor, spending on the social services sector receives a significant share of P560.8 billion or 34.1 percent of the proposed budget.

Under the proposed budget, Congress will get P7.7 billion; Office of the President — P4.1 billion; Office of the Vice President — P179.805 million; Department of Agrarian Reform — P16.7 billion; Department of Agriculture — P37.6 billion; DBM — P780.880 million; Department of Education — P206.2 billion; State Universities and Colleges — P23.4 billion;

Department of Energy — P1.3 billion; Department of Environment and Natural Resources — P13 billion; Department of Finance — P12.2 billion; Department of Foreign Affairs — P11.1 billion; Department of Health — P33.3 billion; Department of Interior and Local Government — P88.1 billion; Department of Justice — P7.6 billion; Department of Labor and Employment — P6.4 billion; Department of National Defense — P104.6 billion; Philippine Veterans Affairs Office – P13.8 billion; Armed Forces of the Philippines — P89.8 billion; Department of Public Works and Highways — P110.6 billion; Department of Science and Technology — P6 billion. –Daily Tribune