House OKs budget reform bill

The House of Representatives has approved a bill that seeks changes in the formulation and use of the annual national budget.

In a television interview yesterday, Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, appropriations committee chairman, said the most important feature of the proposed Budget Reform Act is the limitation on the use of appropriations in the annual outlay.

“Before, appropriated funds were good for two years. So there was no pressure and urgency on the part of agencies to spend the money within the fiscal year. Under the bill, funds will be good only for one year,” he said.

He said the two-year life of appropriations resulted in “under-utilization of huge amounts of funds.”

“If you had 10 percent under-spending and your national budget was P3 trillion, that translated to P300 billion agencies did not spend. That was the amount of services people were denied,” he stressed.

He pointed out that the bill provides for the reversion to the national treasury of unspent funds at the end of every fiscal year.

“That is in line with President Duterte’s admonition for agencies to use the money or lose it,” Nograles said.

He said another reform contained in the measure is the requirement to spend year-end savings for programs, activities or projects identified in the national budget.

He noted that the procurement of dengue vaccine was not specifically mentioned in the 2016 outlay, for which up to P3 billion in savings was diverted.