‘Congress underspending due to chamber recess’

MANILA, Philippines — The congressional recess may have caused the legislative department to become the top underspender in the first half of the year, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum yesterday, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman disclosed that the Congress of the Philippines recorded the lowest obligation rate among government agencies as of the end of June.

“I think this is because of the seasonality of operations,” Pangandaman said.

“Congress goes into recess. So I think that affects (spending),” she said.

Both the lower and the upper chambers of Congress are not in session for a month thrice a year.

Data from the DBM showed that allotment to Congress reached P50.24 billion as of the first semester, but the latter only obligated 8.8 percent or P4.44 billion during the period.

“We have a quarterly communication to the departments for them to utilize their budget,” Pangandaman said.

“The penalty for that is when we do the budget, we tend to reduce because we have a framework to follow for our National Expenditure Program,” she added.

Apart from Congress, agencies with the lowest utilization rates include the Commission on Higher Education with 19.2 percent, Department of Migrant Workers with 22.1 percent and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development with 24 percent.

Agencies with low spending rate also include the Department of Energy, Philippine Sports Commission, Office of the President, Department of Labor and Employment and the Office of the Vice President.

As of the end of June, Pangandaman said 65.4 percent of the P5.768-trillion allotment for 2024 has been obligated.

Topping the list of agencies with the highest obligation rate is the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity with 84.3 percent.

This is followed by the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency with 80.4 percent, Department of Public Works and Highways with 70.5 percent, Department of Finance with 69.6 percent and the Department of Foreign Affairs with 58.5 percent.

‘Rule of law’

In another development, Partido Reforma president and Davao del Norte 1st District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez yesterday called for “rule of law and protection of the institution” of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) concerning the supposed overseas bank accounts of some poll officials.

Alvarez made the statement following accusations that Comelec Chairman George Garcia has offshore bank accounts.

Garcia was also accused of anomalies linked to Korean company Miru Systems, which replaced Smartmatic as provider of voting machines for the 2025 elections. – Sheila Crisostomo