House backs Aquino on stricter budget control

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives is supporting President Aquino’s decision to strictly control and monitor the use of taxpayers’ money for the filling of more than 67,000 vacancies in the bureaucracy.

In approving the proposed P1.8-trillion national budget for 2012 before midnight Friday, the Congress, dominated by administration allies, did not touch the controversial item called “miscellaneous personnel benefits fund” or MPBF.

Though Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. created a six-member committee to receive proposed amendments to the budget during this week’s short recess, the panel is not

expected to recommend that the President’s decision be changed.

It is in the MPBF that Aquino has pooled funds for vacancies, including P1.89 billion for more than 5,000 jobs for judges and other court personnel that have remained unfilled for many years.

In a text message to The STAR, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said what the President wants to do is “to protect the authorization given by Congress for the judiciary to hire court personnel, which is not being done as funds for unfilled items are realigned for other uses.”

“This is particularly important in light of complaints about lack of judges and court personnel,” he said.

Abad said the realignment of funds for vacancies by the Supreme Court is against the “intention of Congress when it authorized the expenditure.”

He lamented that for making sure that funds for hiring of personnel are used for that purpose, he and the President “are being chastised.”

Abad was apparently referring to criticisms aired by Supreme Court (SC) Administrator Midas Marquez, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Sen. Joker Arroyo, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, and some militant party-list lawmakers.

Marquez earlier said Aquino’s decision to remove funds for court vacancies from the main SC budget violates the independence of courts and the separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive branch.

According to a report submitted by Abad to the House appropriations committee, there are 5,539 vacancies in the judiciary, mostly for the positions of judge.

For those vacancies, there is P2 billion in this year’s judiciary budget and in the 2012 national budget. This year, the amount is immediately available to the SC, whether it hires additional judges or not, while next year, it would have to fill vacancies before funds are released.

The MPBF holds more than P23 billion for filling 67,300 vacant positions in the entire bureaucracy next year.

According to Rodriguez, the removal of P2 billion from the SC budget undermines the independence and fiscal autonomy of the judiciary.

 “The decision to separate the P2 billion from the main judiciary budget means that the Supreme Court will have to request for the release of funds every time it hires judges and other personnel,” he said.

“That is contrary to the Constitution, which mandates that appropriations for the judiciary should be regularly and automatically released,” he added.

Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo said he supports the objective of the President in pooling funds for unfilled positions in the bureaucracy.

Meanwhile, Senate finance committee chairman Sen. Franklin Drilon yesterday vowed to provide safety measures that will prevent the P101-billion budget for the unfilled positions from being used and realigned by the Office of the President if not used up by the concerned agencies.

Drilon made the statement amid questions raised over the decision of Abad to put into a centralized MPBF the budget for unfilled positions for constitutional agencies and other government agencies.

But he assured the President and the public that Congress is on track with its goal to pass the budget by early December.

Drilon said he expects that the copy of the 2011 General Appropriations Act be forwarded to the Senate on or before Oct. 12 so they can take it up when session resumes on Nov. 7. - With Christina Mendez