Congress to Hear Budget Proposals by NGOs | SWP Media Release September 11, 2013 MEDIA RELEASE September 11, 2013 Contact Person: Leonor MagtolisBriones Tel Nos. 09175359884 CONGRESS TO HEAR BUDGET PROPOSALS BY NGOs The House Committee on Appropriations, chairedby Congressman Isidro T. Ungab Jr. will conduct a formal hearing on thealternative budget proposals of the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI)tomorrow (September 12). ABI, led by Social Watch Philippines (SWP), is anetwork of more than a hundred citizens’ groups that annually submits budgetproposals to the national government for increased allocation for health,agriculture, education, environment and social protection. “We call on Congress to adopt the people’sbudget proposals for programs for the extremely poor,” said former nationaltreasurer and SWP lead convenor Leonor Magtolis Briones, “As representatives ofthe people, they should help reclaim the people’s purse so that 25 million(NSCB Report, first semester 2012) hungry Filipinos will live better quality oflives,” she added. “It is Congress that crafts the legal frameworkof the budget. Only Congress has the power to legislate the most important toolof development that is the National Budget. Therefore, Congress should exercisethe “power of the purse” and make the national budget truly an instrument oftransparency, accountability and development,” said SWP convenor Jessica Cantos of R-1 Rice and Action Networkwhich leads the ABI’s Agriculture Cluster. “Congress should be able to exact performancefrom implementing agencies and spending units of government, and determine theextent to which use of government funds and resources have actually contributedto the achievement of the national goals of poverty alleviation, employmentcreation, price stability, improved access to health and education services,and environmental sustainability,” said SWP convenor Rene Raya of E-NetPhilippines which leads the ABI’s Education Cluster. “We also call on the Office of the President,the Department of Budget and Management to be the first and primary agencies toguard the just and proper utilization of the national budget, which is thepeople’s money,” Briones said. “The President is called upon to exercise greatermagnanimity in the exercise of the authority of the Executive to transfer anddispense public funds, including the rule-based and just disbursement of fundsdirectly appropriated to the Office of the President itself and agenciesdirectly attached to it, including the use of the President’s Social Fund, theMalampaya Fund and similar pork barrel funds,” Briones added. The formal hearing for the SWP-ABI’s alternative budget proposals willbe held tomorrow, September 12, 9:30 AM at the Rolando Andaya Hall, SouthwingBldg, House of Representatives in Quezon City.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 04:49:07 +0000
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