Duterte, Sereno get budgets boost while Robredo suffers cut

While Malacanang and the new Congress are discussing the shift to federalism and the devolution of more powers to the local governments, the Palace is simultaneously boosting the imperial presidency that the chattering class from the southern Philippines chafe at. How? By the simple expedient of the power of the purse. Next year’s budget of the Office of the President will expand seven times from this year’s level of P2.86 billion to over P20 billion.

Compared to P-Noy’s last full-year budget, Duterte’s proposed first full-year budget will be twice than the P8.5 billion the OP allocated itself in 2015, when Malacanang even hosted the APEC summit.

The bulk of the OP budgetary bulge for next year, over P19 billion, would come from “maintenance and other operating expenses.”

The OP budget for “personal services” will actually be reduced to P747 million from this year’s P805.7 million and 2015’s P798 million.

The Palace also resurrected the presidential contingency and calamity funds, allocating nearly P43 billion for 2017 from zero in 2015.

And despite the detente between Duterte and Leni Robredo and her belated admission to his Cabinet, the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President will actually shrink next year to P433 million from this year’s P504 million.

Surprisingly, even with the President’s hissy fit against, and subsequent apology to, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, the budget for the judiciary will be increased next year by almost P6 billion to P32.5 billion.

Even the Commission on Human Rights, whose chairman Jose Luis Martin Gascon and board are no fans of Digong, will still see their 2017 budget boosted to P496 million from P432 million in 2015.

The same political accommodation seems to be also in play in Tarlac, the home province of P-Noy, and in Batanes, the power base of the Liberal Party leader and former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

Tarlac will see its national budget allocation increased to P5.9 billion, from P4.7 billion in 2015; Batanes, to P643 million from P520 million also in 2015.

And speaking of the imperial presidency, Davao City and its host province, Davao del Sur, seem to manifest the same asymmetrical relationship between Manila and the rest of the country.

While Duterte’s home city will see its national budget allocation increased to over P4.1 billion by next year from P3.3 billion, Davao del Sur’s budgetary support will shrink to P997 million from P1.1 billion in 2015.

Imperial Metro Manila itself will see its financial support increased to P30.5 billion from P24.5 billion also within the same period.

The bulk of the national government’s monetary manna will accrue to Quezon City, Manila and Caloocan.

Duterte as unlikely art patron

Duterte and culture are two words Manila’s literati do not usually use together.

So it comes as a surprise that the Cultural Center of the Philippines is getting a four-fold increase in its 2017 budget to P845 million from its 2015 budget of less than P214 million, courtesy of the trash-talking former provincial mayor.

The P845 million is being entirely allocated for the badly needed maintenance and repairs of the 45-year-old building, a legacy of Imelda Marcos.

Heard through the grapevine

The glamorous wife of a sports official was caught on CCTV sneaking unaccompanied into the Makati penthouse unit of her college-era boyfriend while her husband was in the Rio Olympics.

The chatter from the condo claimed that it was not the first nor second time that the mystery lady had paid her BFF such nocturnal visitation.

And as if by some suspicious coincidence, the BFF was unfortunately picked up and arrested last week by the Makati police, apparently on an unrelated, bailable offense, while the BFF was chatting on the phone with her.