Miriam seeks creation of gov’t website on tax spending

en. iriam Defensor antiago has called for the creation of a government website to contain all information on how ta payers money is being spent as a response to the demand of the public for fiscal transparency and accountability.

antiago said the public must have access to information about where their ta es go, be it for the implementation of programs and pro ects or the salaries and allowances of government officials.

antiago cited the government s Data. gov, an initiative of the arac bama administration aimed at ma ing government data available to the public.

he cited the website as a model for her proposal.

For the Philippine model, antiago said the website should contain information about the pro ects funded by the por barrel fund, the discretionary funds of all public officials and the salaries and other sources of income of high government officials.

antiago noted the discretionary funds would include the Priority Development Assistance Fund maintenance and other operating e penditures of the different gov ernment departments, agencies, offices and institutions intelligence funds lump sum funds and special purpose funds.

alling it an online dashboard, antiago said the website would ma e government spending more transparent, participatory and collaborative.

he public has the right to now where their ta es go and if government is spending public funds wisely, antiago said.

he said the online dashboard would be able to show citi ens what government pro ects are over budget or behind schedule.

ur neti ens are already trac ing bloated government pro ects on their own, as shown by the recent uproar over the P million flagpole being erected at the Luneta, but an online dashboard would centrali e all information and ma e trac ing govern ment funds easier, antiago said.

antiago cited the por barrel fund scam that involved the transfer of billions to bogus non government organi ations and ghost pro ects, which went on for several years without the public even suspecting anything.

he said the Department of udget and anagement s website listing informa tion about the PDAF is clearly insufficient, based on the reports that came out about the por barrel fund scam.

As shown by the recent PDAF scandal involving bogus s and ghost pro ects, information on government pro ects should be as comprehensive as possible and easily accessible to the public, an tiago said.