Palace: Arroyo travel costs exceed budget by over P1B

A Palace official admitted on Tuesday that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s travel expenses over the last nine years exceeded the allocated budget by more than P1 billion. But deputy executive secretary for finance Susana Vargas said the excess did not constitute “overspending" and that no government projects were sacrificed. According to Vargas, from 2001 to this year the Office of the President spent P2.4 billion for local and foreign travel, although the budget set aside for the same period was only P1.4 billion. She made the disclosure following accusations that Mrs. Arroyo and her entourage spent extravagantly during their recent visit to the United States. Last week Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III claimed that between 2003 and 2007, the President had spent P2.7 billion on her travels – P1.6 billion more than the allotted budget. Vargas said she did not know where Guingona got his data, noting her own figures were backed up by receipts and vouchers submitted to the Palace’s finance division and the Commission on Audit (COA). She said “I don’t think it is correct to say that we overspent" because “we were still within the regular maintenance of other operating expenses (MOOE), so it's still within our budget." Deputy presidential spokesman for economic affairs Gary Olivar said there was nothing wrong with exceeding the allotted funds because the General Appropriation Act allows the “budget flex" practice. Under section 62 of the 2008 GAA "agencies may augment any item of expenditure within MOOE except confidential and intelligence funds from savings and other items of MOOE without prior approval of the DBM." Olivar said that such excesses in travels usually happens but "you never evaluate any budget excess spending on its own. You always look at what the excess spending brings back to you." - GMANews.TV