THE Commission on Audit (COA) yesterday asked the Senate to restore the P723 million which the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) slashed from its proposed budget for next year.
COA assistant commissioner Roland Pondoc, during the Senate budget briefing on the commission’s proposed P14.8 billion budget, said the slash will adversely affect their satellite auditing offices nationwide.
The COA has 58 completed provincial satellite auditing offices nationwide, while 10 more were still undergoing completion as of June 30.
Pondoc said the DBM cut their budget by 5.24 percent – P455 million for personnel services and P268 for monthly operating and other expenses, or a total of P723 million.
“Ang total po na nag-decrease sa amin is P723 million, and that is why we’re requesting this honorable committee na kung puwede po sana ay ma-restore po ‘yung nawala sa amin na P723 million (The total decrease in our budget is P723 million. That’s why we’re requesting this honorable committee, if possible, to restore the P723 million [budget cut],)” Pondoc said.
He said the decrease will “affect the operation cost of our provincial satellite auditing offices,” which he said will primarily impact on their auditors.
He submitted a letter to the Senate panel explaining in detail the effects the budget slash will have on the commission and why it should be restored.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, panel chairman, assured Pondoc that the Senate will find a way to restore the slashed allocate.
“Just for the record, we acknowledge your request. And also to place in the record that this committee, the Senate, has increased the COA budget for the last four years and probably even longer. So, I think going by history we have a good batting average, including last year and 2021 which were during the pandemic, which were very difficult times fiscally,” Angara said.
The commission’s proposed budget was later approved at the committee level and was recommended for plenary discussions.
SOLDIER’S SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa yesterday pushed for an additional subsistence allowance for soldiers, which is currently pegged at a measly P150 per day.
Dela Rosa said the present allocation can only buy vinegar, soy sauce, and salt.
The former PNP chief said the cost of living today will make it impossible for soldiers to cope with their daily expenses and could force them to look for extra income.
The P150 daily subsistence allowance was approved by the late President Benigno Aquino III in 2014. It was pegged at P90 before.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo said he was saddened to learn that soldiers just make do with sardines for their meals due to the small subsistence allowance.
“Ano po ang mabibili ng 150 pesos per day ngayon? Three times a day kakain, kulang po yun, hindi po sapat yun (What will P150 a day be able to buy? Our soldiers will have to eat three times a day. That is not enough),” Tulfo said.
Tulfo supported dela Rosa’s proposal to increase the soldiers’ subsistence allowance for them to eat decent food.
BBM BUDGET
The House of Representatives is on track to approve today Malacañang’s proposed P5.268 trillion national budget for 2023, the first budget of President Marcos Jr.’s administration.
The President on Monday night certified the passage of the general appropriations bill (GAB) as urgent, a move that would allow congressmen to approve the money measure on third and final reading immediately after voting on it for passage on second reading on the same day.
“The certification from Malacañang will enable the House to approve the General Appropriations Bill on second and third reading on the same day, which we set on Wednesday (Sept. 28),” Speaker Martin Romualdez said in a statement.
Marcos invoked Article 6, Section 26, and Subsection 2 of the 1987 Constitution, which authorizes the President to “certify to the necessity of the immediate enactment of House Bill (No.) 4488.”
Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, a senior vice chair of the House committee on appropriations, said the House will be able to beat its self-imposed deadline of passing the budget before the House goes on a month-long break on October 1.
“(Today), we are expecting to wrap up the plenary debates for the 2023 national budget. It is the second stage of the budget process where Congress members dedicate another pair of eyes to review the proposed budget,” Quimbo said.
As of yesterday, Quimbo said the House has terminated the debates for the budget proposals of 61 agencies and constitutional bodies, leaving the plenary with only 14 more to deliberate.
She thanked the members of the minority bloc, which include the Makabayan lawmakers, for performing their roles as “fiscalizers” by tirelessly scrutinizing the details of the GAB even since the start of the budget hearing at the committee level.
During the floor deliberations on the Department of Agriculture’s proposed P163 billion budget, Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado, an ally of former vice president Leni Robredo, threw his support behind Marcos Jr.’s agricultural plans as concurrent agriculture secretary.
Bordado, who is with the minority bloc, cited the President’s vow to financially equip farmers and fisher folks and allow them to be more competitive and competent and push for the mechanization and modernization of the sector.
Bordado inquired about the success of increasing crop yield through the implementation of the “Plant, Plant, Plant” program, given the reported scarcity of many food commodities.
The lawmaker said it is important to address the problem of farmers from a more holistic perspective, adding that every aspect of the agricultural supply chain, from farm to market, “must be studied and appropriate solutions developed for each area with similar characteristics and problems. “ – With Wendell Vigilia
