‘Pdaf-lite’ budget OK’D; Noy gets bigger lump sum
The bicameral conference committee approved yesterday a consolidated 2014 national budget of P2.264.7 trillion from the proposed P2.268 trillion after the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of 15 senators and the Office of the Vice President was removed.
The P3.2-billion reduction represents the forgone pork barrel funds of the 15 senators and Binay at P200 million each.
President Aquino’s P7.5billion calamity fund, a lump sum appropriation now called the National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Fund, was increased by P5.5 billion for a total of P13 billion. Without much disagreement over the amendments introduced by the Senate and the House of Representatives on their respective versions of the budget measure, the bicameral conference hear- ing was finished in less than an hour.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the 2014 national budget may be ratified today in the House and the Senate. Once the committee report is ratified by Congress, the printed copy of the budget measure will be transmitted to the President for signing.
Yesterday’s bicam hearing was opened to the public following calls from the public to make the budget deliberations more transparent in the aftermath of the pork barrel scam. Sen. Francis Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on finance, said the technical staff of the chambers earlier held meetings to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the Senate and House versions of the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
In the final version of the 2014 GAA, the original amount of P2.268 trillion proposed by Malacañang was trimmed down to P2.264.7 trillion.
The Supreme Court had earlier struck down PDAF as unconstitutional.
The House had realigned its share of the PDAF amounting to more than P19 billion, allocating it to several agencies implementing projects in legislative districts.
The Department of Public Works and Highways received the biggest share of more than P9 billion.
The other agencies that received augmentations from the realigned PDAF include the Commission on Higher Education, for scholarship; Department of Health, for medical assistance; and Department of Labor and Employment, for livelihood projects.
Unlike in previous years where the GAAs were centered on the conditional cash transfer program of government, which led to the provision of more cash benefits to poor families, the highlight of the 2014 national budget was on the government’s response to the various calamities that hit the country this year.
P20 B rehab fund
The approved budget for next year included a P100-billion rehabilitation fund for areas hit by calamities.
Of the P100 billion, P20 billion was intended for rehabilitation of areas affected by Typhoons Yolanda, Santi, Labuyo, Vinta, Odette, Pablo and Sendong; the 7.2 magnitude earthquake and the Zamboanga siege.
This is on top of the P14.6billion supplemental budget approved by Congress for the 2013 national budget and the estimated P12 billion in savings in the 2013 GAA, the validity of which would be extended for one year. Sen. Loren Legarda lauded the inclusion of a special provision in the 2014 GAA to make the budget climate-proof and resilient.
Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, chairman of the House appropriations committee, said lawmakers would touch the national budget for the last time when both chambers ratify it.
“Our job in handling the budget will now end,” Ungab said, adding this is the fourth straight year that the GAA was passed on time or before the start of the fiscal year.
“It ( passage in bicameral panel) sends a good signal to the Filipinos and the world and at the same time projects a very good image to the financial community,” he said.
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, vice chairman of the appropriations panel, said the speedy budget approval “is a significant step in sustaining the country’s economic growth and in addressing the urgent needs for reconstruction and rehabilitation of areas battered by recent calamities.”
He said an additional P100billion budget for rehabilitation and reconstruction will help bring back normalcy to the communities hit by calamities.
The 2014 GAA also included a realignment of P2.5 billion from lump sum appropriations for scholarship programs to the budget of 112 state universities and colleges.