Palace insists Malampaya funds intact

MANILA, Philippines - Regardless of accounting complexities, the Malampaya Fund is still whole and intact, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma said yesterday.

Coloma said the Department of Finance (DOF) had already issued a statement last Oct. 9 saying as much. 

He said the DOF statement was posted on the Official Gazette.

“I suppose the little confusion was a result of the (discussion on the) concept of fund balance or cash and one thing that came out during the meeting was the... accounting treatment and the reality of having a special account in the general fund, and the word ‘commingled’ was used,” Coloma said. Coloma said Malacañang will continue to work with Congress in ensuring transparency and effective utilization of the budget, pointing out the Malampaya fund was intact and ready for automatic appropriation when needed for energy-related projects.

Coloma said Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad discussed the need to study the possible amendment of Presidential Decree 1234 allowing a revenue account like the Malampaya fund to be part of or commingled with the general fund.

Purisima told the Senate on Monday that Account No. 151 under PD 1234 allowed the Malampaya Fund to “straddle between a special fund and a general fund.”

“It’s not a special fund in the truest sense of the word. But if it’s a special fund, it can’t be... under the general fund. If you use the cash from the special fund to the general fund, there’s some liability to the special fund,” Purisima said. “With Account No. 151, you have to be in two places at the same time.”

Asked whether the Palace was amenable to the proposed amendment of PD 1234, Coloma said it would have to go through further policy discussions.

But as regards the question of President Aquino’s discretion over the Malampaya fund and other lump sum appropriations, Coloma said the Chief Executive stressed the importance of him having the authority to speedily disburse funds in times of need.

As the President put it, Coloma said, going to Congress every time there is a need for funds to address calamities and contingencies might take much time when expeditious action is required.

But with the “automatic appropriation,” Coloma said the budget for energy-related projects that should be under the Malampaya fund could be drawn anytime from the general fund even without a specific item in the budget.

Coloma stressed, however, that the Malampaya fund must be used for authorized purposes only.

The constitutionality of the discretionary manner in which the President can use the government share in the operation of the Malampaya gas and oil fields is one of the issues to be decided by the Supreme Court (SC) next month, along with the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of lawmakers.

Widespread public indignation over the channeling of PDAF into ghost projects and kickbacks has prompted three petitions before the SC to declare lump sum allocations to lawmakers unconstitutional, along with the Malampaya fund disbursements.

The government has filed plunder charges against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, alleged pork barrel scam operator Janet Lim-Napoles, and 20 others in connection with the alleged misuse of Malampaya funds. Immigration officials have already issued a lookout bulletin, meaning they would advise authorities that those implicated in the Malampaya fund scam are about to leave the country. According to National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon, the government had collected P183.57 billion for the Malampaya Fund from 2002 to Oct. 9 this year. The balance stands at P136 billion.

PD 910 of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos provides that royalties and proceeds from the exploitation of energy resources should form part of a special fund to finance energy development projects of the government. However, it also authorizes the use of the fund for other projects approved by the President without seeking legislative action. 

Critics said that this undermined the constitutional mandate to the legislature of its power of the purse.  – With Evelyn Macairan