To my fellow idiots when it comes to numbers, there’s hope in understanding the voluminous national budget referred to by lawmakers and bureaucrats as the General Appropriations Act.
Yesterday, I attended a briefing conducted by the bright guys behind the Center for National Budget: Joseph Ranola, Bingo P. Dejaresco III, Resty Maglalang, Domingo Teope, Victor Tirol, Jr.
The group has broken down the intimidating GAA into short primers and analyses for easier reading. The main publication is the “Guidebook to Effective and Transparent National Budget Legislation”.
We know that all through these years Malacañang, in connivance with legislators have been giving the people a bad deal. For how do you explain P3.81 trillion (that’s twelve zeros) debt, the interest payment alone eats up one third of our budget. How did we sink in debt?
As the group guided us through the intimidating and blinding numbers, I realized the depth of my ignorance about the budget. For example: I never heard about the Special Purpose Funds (SPF).
In the GAA, there are the standard line budget items, which represent the allocations for the line agencies. For this year the sub-total of the budget for line agencies is P503 billion.
The SPFs are “budgetary items that are non-permanent in nature, appropriated to augment obligations of line agencies, governed by special provisions and subject to the President’s approval.”
“With the thick book on General Appropriations to study, legislators are likely to concentrate on the line budget. Because of the limited time schedule, items under SPF are neither tackled nor extensively scrutinized during budget deliberations,” he said.
Ranola pointed out that in the past years, SPF are much smaller than the sub-total of the budget for the line agencies. But for this year, at P562 billion, it’s even bigger than sub-total of the line agencies’ budget.
What are the specific items under SPF? There are 19 and by its description, we have an idea that the budget that we are told of the line agencies is a farce. The secret fund is in the SPF.
Take a look at some of the items:1) Budget support for government corporation (P12 billion); Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act or AFMA (P23 billion); Allocation to local government units (P21 billion): Calamity fund (P2 billion); Contingency Fund (P800 million); Dep Ed School building program (P2 billion); E-Government Fund (1 billion); International Commitment Fund (P1.9 billion); Miscellaneous Personal Benefits Fund (P41 billion); National Unification Fund (P50 million); Priority Development Assistance Fund o commonly known as “pork barrel” (P7.8 billion); and Pension and gratuity Fund (P59.9 billion).
The biggest item in the SPF is the “Unprogrammed Fund” at P114.5 billion.
“Unprogrammed Fund” is a budgetary item referring to appropriations that are not yet supported by corresponding resources. These are standby appropriations which authorize additional agency expenditures for priority programs and projects in excess of the original budget.
Ranola said last year’s “Unprogrammed Fund” was P61.1 billion. It jumped to P114.5 billion this year or an increase of 87 per cent.
Since it is under SPF, Gloria Arroyo has control over it because the release is subject to President’s approval.
“Unprogrammed Fund” is supposed to be implemented only when revenue collections exceed the resource targets assumed in the budget, or when additional foreign project loan proceeds are realized. But Ranola said even as many of the opposition lawmakers have not received their PDAF allegedly due to lack of funds, unprogrammed funds are known to have been released.
Ranola said the genius behind this budget magic is Budget chief Rolando Andaya, Jr. whose skills were honed when he was head of the Finance committee in the House of Representatives for many years.
The group’s presentation quantified in billion of pesos what we have known all along: that we are being robbed blind by officials of our government.
The only way to check greed and thievery by our officials is to understand the budget. That’s what the Center for National Budget Legislation is all about.
The group will be conducting briefings before different groups in coming days and weeks. Try to attend. Being informed is being empowered.
P114.5 billion Special Purpose Funds: What for? The main purpose is to keep her throne. I presumed it’s intended to bribe governors, mayors, barangay captains, political generals, tongressmen, senatongs, judges, bishops, junkets abroad and ghost projects.
E iyung Miscellaneous Personal Benefits Fund? Personal Benefits ni Gloria?
Tutulan iyang mga discretionary budget na yan. It only promotes proliferation of kickbacks. It will also concentrate the power of the purse on the executive not on congress where it contitutionally belongs. It also makes easy influence-buying by Malacañang. Sinong Mayor o Governor ang ayaw ng parte niya sa Special Purpose Fund? Kung gusto mo ng grasya, sipsipin mo ang nana ni Gloria!
Line item budgeting is transparent and easier to audit.
A bit of showbiz:
The forthcoming wedding of Senator Bong Revilla’s daughter has lots of prominent people as sponsors. Among the principal sponsors is Mob Boss and Smuggling King Enrique Razon. Do you wonder now why this Razon has never been called to testify at the Senate on ZTE deal? He was directly implicated by Joey De Venecia.
Pinaglalaruan ni tongpats queen Gloria ang Congress. Kung pumapasa iyan sa Lower House of hell, bakit pati sa Senado ay uto-uto sila?
The special purpose fund should be renamed as “BRIBERY FUND” or “SUHOL FUND”. In the most recent “oust Gloria” movement where even the AFP had the “walk” to support the evil bitch, I was told that in the provinces, the governors, mayors and even the barangay chairmen were given “brown envelopes”. A barangay chairman we know was given a free fare to Manila, a 50,000 brown envelope and a free stay in a hotel. In the latest impeachment move, each of the tongressmen got millions of “suhol” to immediately kill the impeachment move. Add up all these bribe money and the 114.5 billion fund may not even be enough. This is why the evil bitch still has to resort to “tongpats” in bigger money generating projects. This evil president spends money like it is her money but it is our money, not hers!
Hindi pa ba dictatorship yan? Lahat ng bagay discretion ng presidente?
Ipagkakatiwala mo ba ang pera ng bayan sa isang klepto? Para kang nagpatago ng shabu sa isang adik.
Sipain na iyan, si La Whore Pandakstan!
Diego: I think that SPF also is where “they” draw the funds to “influence” newspaper columnists and TV personnel, both here and abroad.
Pepito, I do not even read local newspapers anymore in the US dahil hindi naman yung totoo ang laman ng mga dyaryo. Whitewashed lahat ang istoria. I just go on line and read The Daily Tribune, Malaya, Abante, Inquirer and lately ABS-CBN (dahil nagiging anti-evil bitch na sila lately). All the other news sources, I do not even bother to read.
PSB:
Like you, I also read only the newspapers online you’ve mentioned. Walang credibility ‘yung iba! Ang karamihan sa mga columnists ng other newspapers ay obvious na members ng “tongpats” club.
Dapat ipangalan sa fund na ‘to “Fund de Loco” o Fund de Suhol!
There’s something very wrong. The pension and gratuity at 59.9Billion while the govt stand to pay the military retirees more or less 54 Billion alone. How’s that, marines? The soldiers just fade away and leave a legacy of 54 billion as of last year.
I don’t subscribe to any newspaper, too, since I can read the main headline news online. I only buy once in a while weekly magazines to get the rest of the story of a news item I try to follow like for instance the news on a Filipino chopped to death by a crazy Japanese who is likely to get the death penalty this time. At least, over here, I know the police are OK on the whole unlike in the Philippines where everyone working for the Dorobo is a most likely a creep like their benefactor!
As for the media in the Philippines, there are only a few columnists I read and trust. Funny that a number of them are the favorite of the Fat Guy to file libel suits against that I find now to be the best yardstick for the power of their pens!!! 😛
If they are not in the Fatso list, then you can bet your bottom dollar they are a beneficiary of the Dorobo’s personal fund paid with taxpayers’ money. If you read them writing nice things about the La Whore, you know they are one of them paid publicity agents.
I can’t blame them, though. Over in the Philippines, if you are honest, gutom ang abot mo. Sabi nga ng isang kakilala kong journalist, “Inggit ako sa iyo. Dito kailangan mangurakot ka para mabuhay!”
Ellen, medyo out of topic ito, gusto ko lang malaman bakit ang Daily Tribune online ay May 16 pa rin ang issue? May problema ba sila?
Goldenlion, I don’t know. Baka may problema ang website nila.
Both the tribuneonline.org and tribune.net.ph are inaccessible after May 16. Dahil kaya kasi humirit si Erap?
I can access online edition of Tribune everyday without problem.
PSB:
Iyong dyaryo naman sa Tate, libre kasi, kaya puro ads lang. Pag mabiling maging anti-government, masarap magbasa like when Nixon became unpopular and everybody wanted to see him thrown out of the White House. Otherwise, publicity stunt lang talaga lalo na kung malaki ang bayad ng mga kurakot sa mga sumusulat na ayaw na rin magutom.
Now, I know why my father was against my taking up journalism in college and making writing as a profession. Sabi niya, mabuti na rin iyong may ibang trabaho, and then write as a hobby. Muntik daw kasing magutom ang pamilya niya when he used to be an associate editor of a movie magazine before and during WWII. After the war, he stopped writing for a living. Hindi daw niya malulon ang corruption at the start of the Philippine Republic. Even then, kurakot na raw ang mga umupo.
“Dep Ed School building program (P2 billion);”
2 billion lang? Kulang po yata yon.
Off topic, but I just learned from Sky News (UK TV) that the Junta in Burma is copying the Chinese by having their own three days of mourning for victims of the Cyclones. Nasuka ako.
What a bunch of hypocrites! Wala pang originality! No wonder my Burmese friends here condemns those idiots in the Burmese military generals who have held their people in bondage. Walang pinag-iba doon sa mga kakutsaba ni Gloria Dorobo and her beloved general now a civilian.
It’s time, I guess, that the UN do something about the abuses of these crooks running their country like hell ala-Rwanda in Burma. Ingat din sa Pilipinas. Malapit nang maging gaya ng Burma! Nakakaloko pa rin kasi si La Whore na democratic pa raw ang Pilipinas under her fake reign.
As Tongue has stated, it is not yet officially declared but the idiot is acting more like a dictator worse than Marcos, and worse, with money taken from the national coffers titled special personal funds pambayad doon sa mga kurakot willing to sell their souls to the devil incarnate!
Kawawang Pilipinas!
Enrile has indeed sold his soul to the Devil…and the evil in the Palace! Imagine, he wants the security detail for Jun Lozada be pulled out claiming Lozada is causing so much expenditures to the Senate.
normally, one thinks that budgets come from specific plans, i.e., no plans no budget. one can also accept that from a specific set of plans can come up unspecified plans but the budget must be much less than the specified ones specially when the plan is only for one year.it is disgusting to read that the budget for things without plans is larger than those with plans.but what can we expect from this evil president who can turn the most upright persons to become crooked and evil as well.
grabe allocations ng gloria budget! samantalang namamasasa siya sa pera ng bayan ay wala na siyang in-allot sa health care. lahat ng government hospitals ngayon ay kaniya kanyang kayod para may pang-operation budget sila. ibig sabihin ay wala ng libre kahit sa government hospitals bukod sa ipinanlilimos ng pcso! yun militar naman ay siyang hinihimas himas niya ng pera para supportahan siya.
SPF = Special Pidal Fund…Kaya naman ninakaw ni Gloria ang pagka-Presidente kay Erap ay dahil ang unang intensiyon nila ay PAGNAKAWAN talaga ang kaban ng bayan na para bang sarili nilang pera. Ang kakapal ng mga mukha ng lahi ng mga Arroyo at Magakapal (Macapagal) na sabihing mayaman ang ninuno nila gayung puro nakaw at ilegal naman ang pinanggalingan. PWE!!!!! Kelan ba matatapos ang bangungot ng mga Pinoy sa mala-impyernong pamamahala? Lord, have mercy on us and our country. Iwaksi mo kami sa kadiliman!
Budget – A schedule of getting into debt systematically.
Lester, re “Dep Ed School building program (P2 billion);”
2 billion lang? Kulang po yata yon.”
That’s only in the Special Support Fund.
DepEd gets the lion share among the line agencies’ budget with P138 billion.
Aside from that State universities and colleges get P19 billion.
Ang problema diyan sa school building program, triple ang laki ng kurakot. Ang budget ng DPWH ay P400,000 per classroom samantalang yung private sector (Coca-Cola yata yun) na nagtayo ng classrooms, P100,000 ea. lang ang ginastos.
Kakalabas lang ng figures ng NCR, 2,900+ classrooms ang shortage samantalang ang report ni Lapus 97% complete na raw nationwide. Putris, yung ipinakita sa news, yung classroom, nilalagyan ng pader sa gitna para madoble ang dami ng accomplishment niyang peke samantalang daig pa ang sardinas ng mga bata sa loob pag nagsiksikan sa hinating room!