Senator wants Malampaya funds included in 2012 budget

Sen. Ralph Recto on Monday asked Malacañang to include in the proposed national budget for 2012 the multi-billion proceeds from the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project — the largest natural gas development project in country. In a statement released Monday, Recto said the inclusion of the P77.2-billion Malampaya funds in the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF) of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) would guarantee transparency in its disbursement. “The Malampaya funds have long been floating up in the budget clouds, the time has come to escort it down to the fold of the GAA or the annual budget," said the senator, who chairs the Senate committee on ways and means. Recto explained that the government share of the Malampaya funds is currently treated as an off-budget item that could only be disbursed through the discretion of the President. He, however, said the funds should be appropriated by Congress. "As I have said before on these kinds of funds, use it or lose it. If there is such a sum of money lying around somewhere, then the government should be able to make use of it for the benefit of the people," he said. Recto said the Malampaya funds could be used to bankroll energy-related programs of the Department of Energy (DOE) or pay off national obligations as proposed by Commission on Audit. But Recto said the DOE, Department of Finance (DOF), Bureau of the Treasury, and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) must first disclose to the Senate where the special account of the Malampaya funds is being kept. Recto had earlier asked the DOE and DBM for a full accounting of the money the government supposedly got from the Malampaya project. He said the government annually receives around P9 billion to P11 billion from the project. The Palace had earlier approved the proposed P1.816-trillion budget for 2012, which is 10.4-percent more than the P1.645-trillion appropriations for 2011. - Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMA News