House urged to restore P18-B funding for vacant executive posts too

The House of Representatives should restore the P18-billion allocation for vacant executive posts that the government impounded into a special purpose fund, the House opposition leader said Wednesday. Minority Leader Edcel Lagman said portions of the miscellaneous personnel benefit funds (MPBF) should also be returned to the executive branch if the chamber decides to restore similar funds to the judiciary and other constitutional offices. “I saw a draft of the General Appropriations Bill. What is lacking is that the same special provisions were not imposed on the executive. I think that should also be imposed on the executive," Lagman said at a press briefing. He said returning the impounded funds to the executive will ensure equality in government. “The executive is getting the lion’s share of these unfilled positions. [The funds] should be for all… Pantay-pantay tayo." Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, House appropriations committee chair, however, said the House leadership is not keen on adopting Lagman’s new proposal. “The proposal subject to the approval in plenary will keep unfilled positions in MPBF for executive offices. That is the plan and intention," he said in a text message. House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Tuesday that the chamber is “going in the direction" of restoring P4.9-billion MPBF allocations to fiscally autonomous agencies, provided that they will be banned from using the funds from purposes other than personnel benefits. The MPBF is a special purpose fund introduced by the executive into the proposed P1.816-trillion budget for next year, supposedly to ensure transparency in the handling of government money. Supreme Court spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez, however, had said the House’s plan to limit the way the judiciary and other constitutional offices spend their funds violates their fiscal autonomy enshrined in the 1987 Constitution. - KBK, GMA News