Public urged to keep an eye on how govt will spend 2011 budget

A group led by former National Treasurer Leonor Magtolis-Briones on Tuesday urged the public to keep an eye on how the government will spend the P1.645 trillion national budget for 2011. Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines, said the budget is “problematic" in many ways and does not address the real needs of the people. She said the national budget may be signed on time but it does not have the “substance" which she said the people needs. “They put more emphasis on the time in signing into law the budget measure, but not its content and substance," she said in a press statement. She pointed out that equally important in the signing of the budget law is the content and substance of the budget measure, which should be responsive to the needs of the poor based on their experiences rather than the wants of a few government technocrats. The P1.645 trillion budget for next year is 6.8 per cent higher than the P1.54-trillion national budget for 2010, but Alternative Budget Initiative, a network of over 100 non-government and people’s organizations, remains skeptical that such increase will suffice to finance government operations and fund anti-poverty programs that will actually trickle down to the poorest of the poor. Commendable, but... Briones said the on time signing of the budget bill was commendable, but the major issues and concerns raised by citizen groups such as the questionable lump sum appropriations were not properly addressed. The groups want Congress to use the lump sums to increase the budget for poverty alleviation programs instead of sacrificing certain pro-poor programs. “From the start, the budget process lacked the transparency and citizens’ participation, which [President Benigno] Aquino [III] himself promised the people," Briones said. Among the lump sum items being questioned by the groups were the P21 billion conditional cash transfer program budget under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); the P30.5 billion Unprogrammed Funds–Support for Infrastructure Projects and Social Programs; the P1 billion fund—subsidy for contingencies; and Public-Private Partnership Support Fund. The former national treasurer said various stakeholders should be vigilant on how the government will spend taxpayers’ money next year, especially the lump sum appropriations which is at the disposal of President Aquino. - Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMANews.TV