House set to tackle 2001 budget today

The House of Representatives finally begins floor debates today on President Estrada’s proposed P725-billion budget for next year.

On the eve of the debates, opposition congressmen warned the Commission on Audit, the Department of Justice and other agencies against harassing presidential accuser Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson or they will make life difficult for officials of these offices during the budget process.

Rep. Gilberto Duavit (LAMP, Rizal), chairman of the House appropriations committee, told reporters yesterday that his panel will not agree to proposals to reduce the 2001 budget.

"As far as we are concerned, the P725-billion expenditure program is already very low," he said.

He said of the P725 billion, only P103 billion will be spent for the operation of the national government.

The larger portion will go to debt service (P144.9 billion or 20 percent), assistance to local governments (144.7 billion representing another 20 percent), personal services or salaries (P243 billion or 33.5 percent);

Automatic appropriations like retirement benefits, insurance premiums, pensions, and similar expenses (P15.1 billion or two percent), counterpart funds for foreign-assisted projects (P66.6 billion or 9.2 percent), and budgetary support to government corporations (P7.6 billion or one percent).

"As you can see, there is very little we can do with this budget," Duavit said.

He said the P144.9 billion allocation for debt payments is based on an exchange rate of P42 to US$1.

Since the rate has gone up by more than P6, the natural consequence would be an increase in debt payments, he added.

In the wake of recent economic developments spawned by the jueteng scandal, opposition Rep. Oscar Moreno (Lakas, Misamis Oriental) urged the administration’s finance and economic managers to revise their "revised" budget estimates.

Moreno said the Department Budget Coordination Committee headed by Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno has made a new exchange rate forecast, pegging the rate at P44.50 to $1.

"Even this new forecast is not enough. As of last Friday, the rate has already shot up to P48.50, P4 above their projected rate," he said.

He said the Diokno committee has also counted the $650 billion (about P3 billion) in Marcos Swiss deposits as revenue income despite the fact that the money is still subject to litigation.

"That shows you how desperate they are for revenues. Even these deposits, part of which has been committed as compensation to human rights victims, are now included in their revenue estimates," he added. – Jess Diaz