Lawmaker bares another ‘Noy-Abad brainchild’

MANILA, Philippines - A lawmaker yesterday warned of another “Aquino-Abad brainchild” in the form of a P20-billion discretionary fund in the national budget, which he said could be a tempting source of corruption.

Rep. Terry Ridon of Kabataan party-list raised alarm over the P20-billion Grassroots Participatory Budgeting (GPB) after the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) released a resolution in support of Aquino’s presidency amid the public uproar in connection with the unconstitutional Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

In their resolution published in major newspapers, LMP said that Aquino is the “best chance the country has for significant political and vital economic reforms,” citing the GPB as one of the innovations that “promises more benefits to local government units (LGUs).”

Ridon said the GPB is touted to be a participative program instituted by Budget Secretary Florencio Abad in 2013, where the executive department supposedly identifies “various programs and projects addressing the development needs of poorest cities and municipalities in the country.”

He said that when the mechanism started in 2013, the fund under GPB reached P8.4 billion spread over 595 municipalities. For 2014, the budget under GPB soared to a total of P20.03 billion spread over 1,226 municipalities, almost at par with the budget for the now defunct Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Ridon and other lawmakers had questioned the GBP, which they likened to PDAF.

“PDAF was Strike One. DAP was Strike Two. Now, here comes another corruption behemoth – the GPB, which in the coming days may prove to be this administration’s fatal strike out move,” he said.

Under the GPB, LGUs are asked to come up with a “wish list” of P15 million worth of projects that they want to be funded by the national government, through consultations with local basic sector organizations (BSOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs).

If approved by the Department of Budget and Management, the projects would then “be included in the proposed budget of specific agencies.

“The first danger indicator in the GPB is the direct involvement of CSOs in the crafting of project proposals. While there may indeed be reputable CSOs, BSOs and NGOs that are committed to expanding public participation in the budget process, Filipinos may feel restless when we consider the fact that GPB is a scheme also formulated by Secretary Abad, who is accused by Janet Lim-Napoles of using NGOs to divert funds,” Ridon said.

“The GPB may prove to be one of the executive department’s innovative schemes to expand its discretionary power over the budget allocation of various agencies. The GPB approach supposedly widened the role of CSOs in the preparation of the budget. However, the program is replete with loopholes that made its supposed participatory approach a mere PR trick,” he added.

Over 300 CSOs and NGOs are involved in crafting proposals for the GPB this year, Ridon said.

“The public cannot be fooled twice. We have seen how bogus NGOs became conduits for embezzling public funds. Under the GPB, there is a high risk that this scheme would be repeated,” the lawmaker said.

Ridon said the GPB is an “evolved” form of pork barrel, where legislators and other middlemen are cut out of the scenario, with the President directly transacting with local officials.

Some of the projects under GPB include the P403.5-million National Greening Program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, P869-million Health Facilities Enhancement Program of the Department of Health, P899-million Sustainable Livelihood Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the P76-million Sitio Electrification Program of the National Electrification Administration.