MANILA – The Senate and the House of Representatives ratified the national budget proposed by President Gloria for 2009, which is equivalent to $25 billion, after a bicameral panel resolved the conflicting versions passed by the two chambers.
Included in the approved version was the allocation of about $1 billion for the “economic stimulus package” sought by Malacanang, which aims to cushion the adverse impact of the global financial and economic turmoil on the economy as well as on the millions of mostly poor Filipinos.
According to lawmakers, the $1 billion is to be used to increase agricultural production through infrastructure projects like the construction of small-scale irrigation systems and farm-to-market roads.
Also made part of the budget was the increase to about $40 million the “pork barrel” allocations of congressmen and senators who, however, said the increase was subject to availability of funds.
The controversial allocation has been renamed the Priority Development Assistance Fund apparently to remove the stench arising from the use of the term pork barrel which has been widely perceived to be a major source of corruption in government.
With the ratification, leaders of the Senate and the House said they speed up the preparation of the enrolled copy of the proposed budget for submission to Malacanang and approval by President Arroyo.
Malacanang, through a spokesman, immediately welcomed on Thursday the ratification of the budget, saying this would go a long way in helping the country weather the ongoing crisis.
The spokesman said with the budget approval by the President, the first priority is to start implementation of infrastructure projects to take advantage of the good weather in the first six months of 2009.
On Wednesday, the House ratified the budget and the Senate followed suit Thursday afternoon after opposition Senators Manuel Roxas 2nd and Panfilo Lacson withdrew their objections.
The House and the Senate adjourned for the month-long Christmas break on December 17, 2008 without waiting for the reconciled version of the proposed budget, prompting the government to operate on a “reenacted” budget starting January 1, 2009.
Officials explained the government was forced to reenact the 2008 budget so as not to stop operations like the delivery of basic services of the people as well as pay the salaries of the estimated 1.2 million civil servants.
The ratification of the budget in the House and the Senate did not come without objections from members, particularly those from the opposition.
Congressman Ronaldo Zamora of San Juan City, Metro Manila, the House deputy minority leader, complained about the lack of transparency, saying that the two chairmen of the bicameral panel failed to make a report on the bill after the holidays.
Zamora was referring to Senator Edgardo Angara and Congressman Junie Cua of Quirino province in Cagayan Valley in the Northern Luzon highlands, who co-chaired the bicameral committee that resolved the differences of the two chambers on the proposed budget.
Zamora said they were surprised when members of the bicameral panel were called to sign the budget report.
The same complaint of lack of transparency was echoed in the Senate by opposition members as they insisted it was only Angara and Cua who met during the Christmas recess to harmonize the House and Senate versions of the budget.
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Matt Hanson