Dear Sec. Abad, I like your resort and your province, Batanes. However, I cannot favor why we cannot compel government agencies to submit an itemize budget. These government agencies cannot run without you giving them projects and I know they will submit if there is a clear mandate to do it. I assume the President will not tolerate weak coordination. In know you have defined process and schedules on how to prepare and submit agency budget, until roll-up of the budget. I know also that you cannot miss this part in the budget process. I’m inclined to ask you this: is your reason only an alibi? We all know that when we submit budget for deliberation, it should have substantial support, breakdowns, calculations, and price benchmarks or the prices are increased based on inflation. We all know that we have to support everything we put into the budget. Based on experienced, if I submit a budget, I ensure that I can convince whoever approves it with proper supports, calculations and research. We all know that lumpsum allocation or budgeting is prone to abuse and corruption. We have to initiate the change now, not next year, or so on. Even the President’s Beef Barrel have to be submitted on line items. I know you know how to prepare the itemize budget, even for calamities. There should be a way – we can go away with lumpsum budgeting or allocation if we want. If I may suggest, we can go down into bill of materials (BOM) on all government projects, constructions, spending and all. This way we know if the prices in the BOM are within market rates. I invoke the good heart on you and all government officials, we can help our people if we all use the power entrusted in us in a right way.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 23:06:27 +0000