3 of 4 GOCCs turn over unused funds from stimulus program

THREE government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) have fully turned over their unused Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) funds after the Commission on Audit (CoA) ordered their return following a Supreme Court decision that declared the program unconstitutional.

The CoA, upon the request of the committee on finance, issued Memorandum No. 2015-005 on March 30, 2015, directing the immediate refund/return to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) of all unobligated and/or unutilized DAP funds by the 4 GOCCs. These are the National Electrification Administration (NEA), National Dairy Authority ( NDA), Philippine Fisheries Development Au- thority ( PFDA), and Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

In a report released by the Senate committee on finance last week, June 9, it said that NEA, NDA and PFDA have returned amounts of P1.58 billion, P167.44 million and P98 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, the PIDS has only partially returned P318.92 million of the P560 million it owed the BTr, the Senate committee report said. The state corporation argued that the missing P241.07 million was transferred to the Commission on Higher Education ( CHEd) which the agency then transferred to various State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).

The PIDS can only fully liquidate the remaining balance once CHEd and SUCs submits their liquidation report.

The basis of the CoA order was the Supreme Court decision which compelled agencies to return funds of their projects, which had yet to be implemented. Only those projects that had been started were allowed to proceed.

Introduced by the administration in 2011 for the purpose of increasing public spending to spur economic growth, parts of the DAP was eventually declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

ANTI-DAP MEASURE

Since the controversial program was struck down, several senators have filed bills that will clip the powers of the President in touching the national budget.

Last month, Senator Francis Joseph “Chiz” G. Escudero has sponsored Senate Bill 2751 or The Budget Impoundment Control Act which will mandate the President to send a request to both Houses of Congress for the rescission or deferral of duly-appropriated funds.

Upon receipt of the message from the President, Congress should enact a joint resolution approving or disapproving the impoundment proposal. Congressional inaction within 45-day period will be deemed equivalent to disapproval of the impoundment proposal.

The President also runs the risk of being impeached for any breach of this bill if it becomes law.