THE 2012 national budget, to be signed tomorrow by President Benigno S.C. Aquino III, is not the “people’s budget” promised by the government, civil society organizations yesterday said.
“It is not right for the government to claim that the 2012 budget is the people’s budget. The allocations to important sectors like education, health and agriculture are not enough, and they don’t target the real problems,” Social Watch Philippines lead convenor Leonor M. Briones claimed during a press conference.
The Department of Education may have received the highest allocation of P237 billion, up from this year, but this isn’t enough since crucial areas of education weren’t given funding, Ms. Briones said.
“Is there a program for the education of out-of-school youths or the elderly? How about education for Muslims, indigenous peoples and people with disabilities? Why are we scrimping on education when we pay so much in debt servicing?”
An official of the Rice Watch and Action Network likewise commended the 50% budget increase granted to the Department of Agriculture (DA), bringing its allocation to P52.9 billion next year from this year’s P35.2 billion.
But much of the funds will go to irrigation projects without putting in place reforms in the National Irrigation Authority, Rice Watch secretariat Hazel A. Tanchuling said.
Irrigation isn’t the only concern, she claimed. Credit should also be granted to farmers and fisherfolk since interest rates are too prohibitive, she pointed out.
The Philippine Coalition on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (COALITION), meanwhile, expressed “utter disappointment” at inadequate assistance for the sector. The Social Welfare department’s conditional cash transfer program doesn’t even consider disability as a variable in identifying beneficiaries, COALITION member Abner N. Manlapaz said.
Ms. Briones also claimed that not all government agencies were prepared to engage with civil society.
“An open budget isn’t just about opening the budget to the people. It’s about empowering people to join in policy formulation,” she said.
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
“Safety and health at work every day!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
March – Women’s Role in History Month
April – Month of Planet Earth
Weekly Observances:
Last Week of March: Protection and Gender Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
Last Week of April – World Immunization Week
Daily Observances:
Mar 25 – International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transallantic Slave Trade
Mar 27– Earth Hour
Apr 21 – Civil Service Day
Apr 22 – World Earth Day
Apr 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
