Palace: No P140-B fund

THE DAILY TRIBUNE

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20091007hed3.html

Palace: No P140-B fund

By Aytch de la Cruz
10/07/2009


Malacañang officials yesterday appeared to have been at a loss for words when asked to provide an explanation or at least give a categorical statement behind reports over the alleged P140-billion fund impounded by President Arroyo that could have instead been utilized to increase the dwindling calamity fund rather than wait for the P10-billion supplemental budget currently pending at Congress.

Former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, who knows whereof she speaks on these matters, the other day stated that President Arroyo has P140 billion in available funds which was impounded through transfers from the budget of the various government agencies last year, an amount which Briones said

should be more than enough to augment the depleted calamity fund being used for government relief efforts.

Briones said Arroyo’s propensity to juggle the yearly budget allocations has resulted in P140 billion in disposable funds in the hands of the President.

"While the Constitution allows the president to reallocate funds of government agencies, this President had done this excessively," Briones said.

For last year, some P178 billion of such fund was reallocated with P140 billion still unreleased and would save the goverment from the sound and fury of going through the congressional process for a supplemental budget.

Briones added that using the impounded funds for the government’s relief efforts would also save the government from further borrowing which it would have to resort to in the plan for a P10-billion budget supplement.

Briones also pointed out that most of the funds that Arroyo has the discretion to release is also not subject to examination by the Commission on Audit (CoA).

The presidential spokesmen all claimed to be unaware of the impoundment of the P140 billion that Briones said was available for release, at the discretion of Arroyo.

Presidential Economic Spokesman Gary Olivar implied that the assertions being put forward right now by Briones and Rep. Teofisto Guingona III (2nd District, Bukidnon) were relatively unsound and unclear as the existence of that P140-B impounded fund itself was not substantially confirmed.

"Based on what I habe read, the P140-billion, I think, is simply the difference between what may have been originally requested in the budget submission and what was eventually approved or perhaps what was eventually spent based on the discretion of the executive. It doesn’t mean there is real cash hanging and waiting around there," Olivar said.

Press Undersecretary Anthony Golez, Jr., for his part, theorized that the additional P10-B supplemental budget proposed by the Congress should not be confused with that of the alleged P140 billion impounded fund because there is a stark difference between the two.

Golez implied that the P10 billion supplemental budget was something that is supposed to be carried out of charity as this was Congress’ way of helping our citizens especially those affected Metro Manila and the provinces nearby.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo also claimed she was not aware where the idea of P140 billion impounded fund came from; reiterating previous hints by Golez and Olivar that the best agency to clarify such questions is the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

"That has to be answered by the DBM because I am not exactly sure if that P140 billion she (Briones) is saying exists. I am not aware of that P140 billion, (therefore) it is better to be clear on what exactly does that P140 billion impounded funds mean," Fajardo said.

But the Budget chief, Secretary Rolando Andaya, in a radio interview over dzRH, also manifested the same ignorance when asked to provide a statement on the issue at hand.

"These funds from last year that were not being used, this fund that they say was impounded last year and not used was used because the extra revenues were not enough since the quota of the Bureau of Internal Revenue was not met. So we decided not to bring this out in the open, if such are the funds. That was last year’s. This year is a different matter. There really are no funds, just funds on paper," Andaya said.