By Jonathan L. Mayuga
BusinessMirror
BusinessMirror
BUDGET activists on Saturday reiterated the call for the abolition of the special purpose funds (SPFs), which account for 22 percent of the proposed 2014 national budget.
The call was made by the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI) a day after a group of professors from the University of the Philippines called for the abolition of the “pork barrel” fund in the wake of the latest scandal involving the release of the Philippine Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
“SPFs are lump-sum funds which are included as part of the General Appropriations Act [GAA]. These are not as detailed and specific as the budget proposals of regular agencies. Once these are approved, they are vulnerable to reductions, transfers and ‘adjustments’ since these are lump sums,” SWP Lead Convener and former National Treasurer Prof. Leonor Magtolis Briones said.
The internationally recognized ABI has been calling for the abolition of the SPF as part of its campaigns. Briones earlier reiterated the call for the abolition of the pork- barrel fund, which she described as “unconstitutional.”
It has been widely perceived that if unchecked, the funds could be used for “ghost projects,” if not projects “in aid of re-election” of corrupt politicians.
Magtolis said it is important to give attention to the SPFs because these are not normally debated in Congress and are less scrutinized by the public. SPFs account for 22 percent of the proposed 2014 GAA of P1.4 trillion, which Congress will approve.
These are funds managed directly by the Department of Budget and Management with the approval of President Aquino. Mr. Aquino is allowed by the Constitution to transfer funds in his office. The current interpretation of the word “office” is that it covers the entire national government, Briones said.
“Not only that SPFs have always been problematic, but since these are not as detailed as regular appropriations, they tend to be vulnerable to abuse. Accountability is sometimes difficult to establish and documentation, likewise, is difficult,” she added.
For 2014, P310.1 billion has been proposed as SPFs along with P139.9 billion as unprogrammed funds, for a total of P499 billion.
The biggest items are Pension and Gratuity Fund of P120.5 billion; Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund for P80.7 billion, Budgetary Support to Government Corporations for P46.7 billion; and Allocation to Local Government Units for P19.7 billion. The PDAF budget level of P25.240 billion is just around 8 percent of the SPF, which is proposed at P310 billion.
SWP and ABI believe there is more reason to scrutinize these funds because these are not detailed and these can be transferred easily; and power to transfer funds is gravely abused during the previous administration. That is why it is important to continuously campaign for the fulfillment of promises in public finance and budget reforms.
“The Commission on Audit [COA] has already spoken that the SPFs should be removed….The [Aquino administration] should follow the COA’s advice and, for prudence’s sake, to re-channel the funds and integrate them with the agencies. There should be no room for budgets with only general assumptions and vague details,” Briones said.
“As citizens, we should also monitor the other larger lump sums. It is high time we expanded the scope of our advocacy from a small portion of the SPF, which is the pork barrel, to the whole SPF itself. In other words why not target the ‘queen bee’ and not just some soldiers and workers?” she said.
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