Romualdez bill also seeks limit to fund ‘parking’
LEYTE Rep. Martin Romualdez, who was the Speaker of the recently concluded 19th Congress, wants the national budgeting system overhauled to ensure more efficient spending of public funds and address issues such as the “parking” of funds and limiting lump sum appropriations.
Romualdez, who is vying to retain the House of Representatives’ top post in the 20th Congress, has filed House Bill (HB) No. 11, which seeks a shift to a cash-based national budgeting system to ensure that public funds will deliver concrete results “instead of being trapped in delays and inefficiency.”
“Hindi na kailangang maghintay ng SONA o botohan ng Speaker. Kung may pwedeng simulan na ngayon na makakabuti sa bayan, gagawin natin. Tuloy ang trabaho para sa Bagong Pilipinas (We don’t need to wait for the State of the Nation Address or the election of the Speaker. If we can start anything that would be good for the country, we’ll do it. The work continues in the New Philippines),” he said.
The proposed Budget Modernization Act aims to “accelerate the delivery of government services, eliminate wasteful spending and make all government transactions easier to monitor and assess.”
“Bawat sentimo sa national budget ay pera ng taongbayan. Kailangan magamit ito nang mabilis, tapat at may malinaw na resulta para sa mga Pilipino, lalo na sa mga nangangailangan (Every centavo in the national budget is the people’s money. It has to be used quickly, honestly and with clear results for Filipinos, especially those in need),” Romualdez said.
Romualdez, who earlier supported the campaign to open to the public the annual bicameral deliberations on the national budget, said his proposal “will improve transparency, curb corruption and restore confidence in how government handles taxpayer money.”
The bill defines cash budgeting system as “the annual appropriations that limit incurring obligations and disbursing payments to goods delivered and services rendered, inspected and accepted within the current fiscal year.”
The proposal seeks to stop “long-standing problems in public finance where funds are obligated but not spent, resulting in delayed infrastructure, stalled programs and unutilized aid.”
It mandates agencies to implement projects within the same fiscal year, with only a three-month extension for payments to compel agencies “to plan better, deliver faster and report clearer outcomes.”
“Kapag may pondong inilaan para sa eskwelahan, dapat may maitayong silid-aralan. Kung may budget para sa kalsada, dapat may daang natatapos. Hindi puwedeng puro plano, walang resulta (If there are funds allocated to schools, classrooms should be built. If there are funds for roads, road constructions should be finished. All plans, no result is unacceptable),” Romualdez said.
The bill is co-authored by Tingog party-list Reps. Andrew Julian Romualdez and Jude Acidre.
Romualdez’s proposal also seeks to address the much-criticized scheme of “parking of funds” in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA) and the inclusion of off-budget items “by requiring greater transparency and stricter definitions for appropriations.”
Congressional allocations are sometimes parked in the other districts to secure bigger allocations and to control how the fund will be spent through favored contractors.
The bill seeks to restrict the use of lump-sum or special purpose funds “without clear deliverables and timelines” and to ensure “real-time” oversight, the bill seeks to requires government agencies to use a digital public financial management system that can track every peso spent.
There is also a provision for performance-based budgeting, under which agencies will no longer be evaluated based on the amount spent but by results achieved to ensure that taxes are translated into actual improvements.
