Lacson exposes ‘hidden insertions’ in '08 budget

MANILA, Philippines - A P200-million "congressional insertion" for a road in the 2008 budget turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg, opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson bared Monday. In his privilege speech on the P200-million "road to nowhere" mess, Lacson said many of the other insertions are "hidden" in lump sum items with vague descriptions. "Not only do we have double entries in the line budget items, we also have double entries in the lump sum appropriations," he said, noting the total lump sum appropriations in the 2008 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) alone amounted to P23.467 billion. Other hidden insertions also lurk in the allocations for personal services (PS), he said. He also said 2008 may not be the first time that such insertions are made, noting a similar hidden insertion was found in the 2007 national budget. Lacson stressed that while the insertions are not bad by themselves, they become objectionable if they are used for personal gain, and if different names are used for identical projects. "What is abominable are the malicious double entries of P200 million and P50 million, using different names for identical projects," he said. Last week, Lacson bared a double entry in the 2008 budget for a road between South Luzon Expressway and Sucat in Parañaque City. On his privilege speech, he directly implicated Senate President Manny Villar in what he termed as the "road to nowhere" mess. "I simply followed the narrow trail and it led me to you, Mr. Senate President. No political motive whatsoever, walang kinalaman sa iyong pagtakbo sa 2010 (nothing to do with your bid for 2010), nor with your Senate presidency," he added. "I simply followed the narrow trail and it led me to you, Mr. Senate President. No political motive whatsoever, walang kinalaman sa iyong pagtakbo sa 2010 (nothing to do with your bid for 2010), nor with your Senate presidency," Lacson said. 'Bridge to nowhere'? In Monday's privilege speech, he revealed a similar double entry involving the Aguinaldo Bridge, which got a funding of P50 million twice under the DPWH budget for 2008. On the other hand, he noted that the insertions caused the budget of the DPWH to balloon from the time the budget is tackled in the House of Representatives to the time it is signed into law. He noted that in the 2008 budget, there were two versions of the House bill on the budget. "Another case of double entry? What gives?" he said. In the first (red) version, the DPWH budget was P52.649 billion, but in the second (black) version, it went up by nearly P13 billion to P65.461 billion. When the budget reached the Senate, there was an increase of P3.950 billion, including the Aguinaldo Bridge, the C-5/Carlos P Garcia Avenue Extension, and lump sum appropriations: * Repair and rehabilitation, including improvement of safety standards of various roads along public schools, P100 million; * Flood Control and Drainage System, P500 million; * Construction, repair and rehabilitation of government facilities including educational facilities, P760 million; * Rehabilitation, reconstruction of damaged paved national roads generated from payment management system/highway development and management, nationwide, P50 million; * Road upgrading, gravel to concrete, based on gravel road, strategies traffic benchmark for upgrading to paved road standard, nationwide: P50 million; and * "Various infrastructure projects," P1.760 billion. "Saan kaya mapupunta ang ganito kalalaking halaga? At sino ang magdidesisyon kung anong proyekto ang mabibiyayaan ng mga lump sum insertions na ito (Where does such a big amount go? Who decides on what project to fund with such lump sum insertions)?" Lacson asked. Yet, he said this almost doubled to P3.426 billion when it went through the bicameral conference committee. When the budget for 2008 was signed, the amount had already ballooned further to P4 billion. Another P7.981 billion was appropriated in the 2008 budget, including a lump sum of P546.653 million. "Total lump sum appropriations in the 2008 budget of the DPWH alone amounted to P23,467,383,000," he added. Savings On the other hand, Lacson quoted Budget secretary Rolando Andaya Jr as saying the government generated "substantial" savings every fiscal year, out of the annual nationwide budget for personal services (PS). The savings ranged from a low of P80 billion out of a PS budget of P252 billion in 2002, to a high of P177 billion out of a PS budget of P366 billion in 2007. "Kung ganito pala kalaki ang hindi nagagastos taon-taon sa personal services, bakit kailangan pa ang VAT na nagpapahirap sa taongbayan (If the savings are that big, why do we need the value-added tax)?" he said. Lacson also noted the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) budget in 2007 had questionable amounts hidden in its PS. In the regular budget of the Office of the Secretary, PS amounted to P1.854 billion. Yet, in the Special Purpose Funds, a section separated from the regular budget of line department because these are funds earmarked for the Agrarian Reform Fund, there is another PS appropriation amounting to P1.890 billion. ARF has no staffing support, he noted. "Marami pa pong mga kahindik-hindik na pagyayari, sa iba't ibang sangay ng ating pamahalaan. Aabutin po tayo ng siyam-siyam kung susuriing mabuti (There are so many other disgusting things in uor government but it will take me all day to find all of them)," he said. Probe Lacson also said during his privilege speech that the investigation on Villar should focus on two points: * Who among the senators proposed the insertion of a P200M redundant appropriation for the C5 Road Extension from SLEX to Sucat in Paranaque City?; and * Who among the senators has personal and financial interests in the development of the extension of C5 Road, now renamed Carlos P. Garcia Ave from SLEX to Sucat Road in Parañaque City? "If we are able to get the truthful answers to these questions, then we can always face our people with our heads held up high," Lacson said.- GMANews.TV