Agencies bloat budgets—Abad

SOME government agencies have bloated their budget for maintenance and other operating expenses in order to realize higher savings and grant more incentives to their employees.

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad made this claim to justify his issuance of Budget Circular 2011-5, which put a P25,000-ceiling for collective negotiation agreement incentives to government employees.

Previously, employees of government agencies which were able to post significant savings from their maintenance and other operating expenses collected more than P25,000 as a bonus under so-called CNA incentives.

Abad said the budget circular is a key reform measure that establishes fairness and prudence in the management of public funds.

“We have seen how government agencies have constricted expenses for crucial programs and projects only to manufacture savings for CNA incentives. Oftentimes, this practice has been abused, with agencies bloating their budgets for maintenance and other operating expenses so they could provide a larger incentive payout,” he said.

Abad said this practice has also distorted the salary system within the government, with some agencies providing obscenely high CNA incentives, while others are practically dealing with spare change.

“We want to restore fairness in the public sector compensation system,” Abad said.

The new Budget circular, issued in January this year, also limits the number of MOOE items from which CNA incentives can be sourced.

These expenses are limited to travel, communication, repair and maintenance, transportation and delivery, supplies and materials, and utilities. –Roderick T. dela Cruz, Manila Standard Today