AT SILLIMAN: FORMER NATIONAL TREASURER URGES VIGILANCE ON 2014 GAA Former National Treasurer Prof. Leonor Briones of the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance gave the first of the series of lecture titled “Iskul-Bukol: 2014 National Budget & Its Implication held at the Silliman University in Dumaguete City on March 20, 2014. Prof. Briones, the lead convenor of the Social Watch Philippines, said everybody should be concerned about where the budget goes and how it is being spent since everybody pays taxes, not only the income tax earners but all others through the 12% Value-Added Tax on food items, transportation, and services. She said she considers the Priority Development Assistance Fund as a “bukol [lump],” and the Special Purpose Fund of the PNoy, the mother of all “bukols” as it amounted to P282.5 billion, or 21% of the General Appropriations Act. Prof. Briones, who is the chair of the Board of Trustees of Silliman University, said the SPF is of special interest to civil societies because it is where the PDAF or pork barrel, is hidden, like the P46.2 Billion budgetary support to government owned and controlled corporations like the NFA, NEA, NIA, SSS; the P19.5 Billion allocation to local government units [LGUs]; P13 Billion for the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council [NDRRMC]; P20 Billion for the Rehab Program, a contingency fund of P1 Billion; and the DepEd school building program worth P1 Billion. Prof. Briones said the PDAF is channeled to 5 Executive Departments of the government in the 2014 GAA like the Department of Health [DOH] with P3.19 Billion intended for indigent patients of the Philippine General Hospital [PGH] and West Visayas Hospital; Department of Social Welfare and Development [DSWD], P4.09 Billion, for individuals and families in especially difficult circumstances or CCT; Commission on Higher Education [CHEd], P4.096 Billion, as assistance, incentives, scholarships and grants; and Department of Labor and Employment [DOLE], P2.048 Billion, for trainings, livelihood and enterprise development and other capacity building programs for students, youths, and disabled workers and rural workers. Central Visayas has the lowest budget allocation in the regionalized portion of the 2014 National Budget, with P224.7 billion or 18%. The highest is that of Luzon with P726 Billion or 58 %, followed by Mindanao, P301.1 Billion or 24%, based on the National Statistics Coordination Board [NSCB] records. The public should be aware of the Automatic Appropriations [AA] since the allotment is not reviewed by Congress. The AA amount to P796.029 Billion in this year’s GAA, with P352.65 Billion as payment of debt interest, and P341.54 Billion as Internal Revenue Allotment [IRA] for LGUs. Prof. Briones called on taxpayers to be vigilant in tracking the P139 Billion Unprogrammed Funds of the government, and the Off-Budget Items, worth P40 Billion, that includes direct remittances from PAGCOR, PCSO, and the Road Users Tax.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 17:09:46 +0000
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