Senators walk out of budget hearing

The bicameral conference committee resumed yesterday its meeting on the 2000 budget on a sour note, with no new appropriation law expected earlier than Feb. 14.

The Senate contingent left the briefing conducted by new Finance Secretary Jose Pardo without waiting for a formal adjournment of the meeting, raising howls of protest from congressmen who described the act as "disrespectful" and "a virtual walkout."

Senate President Pro Tempore John Osmeña, chairman of the Senate panel, said his contingent decided to leave after a number of the congressmen started raising "petty, procedural questions."

"We decided to leave and let the congressmen debate among themselves. We did not feel we could be given enough time to ask substantive questions to Pardo," said Osmeña, also chairman of the Senate committee on finance, as he denied any walkout.

He asked for a separate briefing of the senators on the latest revenue projections by Pardo, while indicating that the Senate panel would not attend the bicameral meeting until after the briefing.

He said that Malacañang had earlier expressed the desire to sign the budget by Jan. 31 but this is no longer possible.

"It takes 10 days to print the budget. For the law to be signed on Jan. 31, we have to finalize the report on Jan. 21, which is impossible. The earliest possible signing is Feb. 14," Osmeña said.

Pardo told the bicameral conference committee that he expects total revenues to reach only P561.4 billion, or P36.6 billion less than the projection of his predecessor.

However, he projected a P22-billion revenue from the privatization of the government shares in Meralco, the Philippine National Bank and the Philippine National Construction Corp. The previous estimate was only P6 billion.

Osmeña and Senate Majority Leader Franklin Drilon said they would want to ask questions on the privatization effort, which Pardo said could be finalized by July.

Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr., a member of the Senate panel, expressed doubts that the privatization move would generate as much as P22 billion.

"What share of Meralco would be privatized and are there no legal restraints?" he asked.

He also noted reports of a merger between the PNB and Allied Bank through exchange of shares, which could affect the privatization of the government shares of stocks in the PNB.

Pardo also recommended programmed expenditures of P628.4 billion, or P2.9 billion less than the P631.3-billion budget proposed by Malacañang.

Osmeña said that he was "disturbed" by the report of Pardo that the interest expense has increased by P9 billion, or from P109.3 billion to P118.3 billion.

"This increase has made it more difficult to finalize the programmed expenditures," he warned.

He said that although Malacañang has also approved of a P10-billion cut in the internal revenue allotment of local government units, he doubts whether the LGUs would agree.

He also said they have received reports that the International Monetary Fund might be amenable to a budget deficit of more than P62.5 billion, but he added that IMF validation of the reports, if true, might not come in time.