NTF-ELCAC gets P10B in budget bicam version
LAWMAKERS have restored the P150 million confidential funds of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the P10 billion allocation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in the reconciled version of the proposed 2023 national budget.
The bicameral conference committee approved the consolidated version of the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget for 2023 on Monday morning.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairperson of the Senate finance committee chairman, said bicameral panel members agreed, among others, to restore the P150 million confidential funds requested by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, and to restore the Executive-proposed budget of the NTF-ELCAC despite its very low disbursement rate this year, among others.
The Senate has slashed the DepEd’s confidential funds to P30 million and realigned the balance of P120 million to its maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) for the Healthy Learners Institution Program found in the Support to Schools and Leaners Program.
The House of Representatives’ version of the budget kept the fund intact.
Asked why the DepEd’s P150 million confidential funds was restored by the bicameral group, Angara replied: “Sabi nila, they need that budget — nirespeto natin ‘yung wishes ng agency (They [DepEd] said they need that budget. We just respected the wishes of the agency).”
On the other hand, the P10 billion budget for the NTF-ELCAC was sought by members of the House panel.
Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co, chairman of the House committee on appropriations, has said that the House contingent would push for the restoration of the anti-insurgency group’s budget after the lower chamber cut it by half during their plenary discussions and allotted only P5 billion for next year.
The Senate’s version was at P6.9 billion.
The agency had a budget of P5.624 billion in 2022, and P16.44 billion in 2021.
Angara, responding to Co’s statement, said the Senate contingent was “willing to work with the House for any upward adjustments” in the NTF-ELCAC’s 2023 budget.
When asked where the bicameral group sourced the P10 billion for the NTF-ELCAC, Angara said: “We cannot specifically say na it was realigned from this agency kasi what we do is we source and then ini-spread na lang naming kung saan kailangan. Fungible ‘yan.
Kumbaga may pool ka, nadadagdag kung saan-saan na lang iyon (We cannot specifically say that it was realigned from this agency because what we do is we source them, and then we spread the fund where it is needed. It’s fungible. It’s like having a pool where the budget is added to an agency which needs it).”
CONFI FUNDS
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III expressed disappointment with the bicameral panel’s decision: “That’s disappointing. I will still need to get more details about the bicam report.”
Pimentel and Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros have questioned during the upper chamber’s plenary discussions on the proposed 2023 national budget why the DepEd and other civilian agencies were allotted confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) when they are not involved in intelligence information gathering. They have warned that giving-in to the Executive’s move to give confidential funds to civilian agencies would set a bad precedence as this would encourage other offices to make similar requests in the future.
Angara said the bicameral body adopted the Senate’s decision to realign the CIFs of several agencies to their respective MOOEs. These include, among others, the P5 million for the Department of Foreign Affairs, P19.2 million for the Department of Justice, P2 million for the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and P20 million for the Office of the Ombudsman.
There is an allocation of over P9.28 billion for CIFs in the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2023.
Angara reassured the public that the agencies which received confidential funds will have to report to the Commission on Audit how they spent their secret funds.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has earlier ordered the reactivation of the Select Oversight Committee on Confidential and Intelligence Funds to allow the upper chamber to monitor the use of the CIFs.
BUDGET INCREASES
Angara said the bicameral panel approved the increase in budget allocation for the following agencies: For the education sector, from P863.9 billion in Malacañang’s National Expenditure Program (NEP) to P884.6 billion in the GAB, and to P900.9 billion under the reconciled version; for fuel subsidies for public transport drivers, from P2.5 billion in the NEP to P3 billion; fuel assistance to fisherfolks got P1 billion; and for the Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers/Government Internship Program (TUPAD) from P15.6 billion in the NEP to P20.1 billion in the bicameral version.
Other increases include the budget for medical assistance to indigent and financially incapacitated patients from P22.4 billion in the NEP to P32.6 billion in the bicam; sustainable livelihood program from P4.4 billion in the NEP to P6.5 billion; and protective services for individuals and families in difficult circumstances from P19.9 billion in the NEP to P36.8 billion.
Lawmakers allotted P25.3 billion in programmed appropriations and P25 billion in unprogrammed appropriations for the social pension of senior citizens.
Angara said the bicameral body allotted a budget for the procurement of “general” vaccines and not specifically intended for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines.
“May budget pa rin pero ang phrasing niya mas general na ngayon. Kasi ang sinasabi ng health experts natin mayroon tayong mga… bumabalik na ang malaria, ganon. So, may freedom na ang DOH na kung hindi na kailangan sa COVID, ililipat sa ibang sakit (We still have budget for vaccines, but the phrasing now is more general. Because health experts say that there are diseases which are coming back like malaria… So, the DOH has the freedom to realign the vaccine funds to procure other vaccines if we do not need to buy COVID-19 vaccines anymore),” Angara said, without giving the specific amount allotted for vaccine procurement.
‘ON THE PATH OF GROWTH’
Angara reported the outcome of the bicameral discussions during yesterday’s Senate session. The reconciled version of the 2023 GAB was later ratified by the Senate, with Pimentel and Hontiveros voting against its adoption.
The House of Representatives ratified the bicameral version of the proposed 2023 national budget during its session on Monday afternoon.
Speaker Martin Romualdez expressed confidence that the approval of the money measure would keep the country “on the path of growth.”
“With this budget, which is the first full-year spending plan proposed by the President, we hope to hasten our economic growth, which should benefit our people,” Romualdez said.
For the most vulnerable sectors, the Speaker pointed out that the budget bill would continue to provide hundreds of billions in financial aid, such as medical, transportation, educational, and even burial assistance.
He added that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) would be able to start releasing agency appropriations at the beginning of 2023 to keep the economy’s growth momentum.
Romualdez reiterated his assurance that the country will have a new budget before Congress goes on Christmas break on December 17.
Co called the 2023 budget a “very good one” after the bicameral panel restored the items earlier slashed by both Houses.
Co said the P2 billion budget for the Libreng Sakay program was retained and “in fact, we added more in this bicam (meetings).”
“And then, the specialty hospitals, we’re going to build a bigger hospital of about 20 floors,” he said. “We will build big hospital all over the country, which will be good for social services.”
Aside from the Libreng Sakay program of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Co said funds were also earmarked for the fuel subsidy program and the bike lanes project.
As for the GAB’s response to calamities that have hit the country, Co said the two panels “put another P10 billion for the repair of the bridges and for the repair of school buildings damaged two years ago.” — With Wendell Vigilia
