Press Release
9 August 2006
MIRIAM URGES CONGRESS TO PASS 2006 BUDGET TO COVER COMELEC PREPARATIONS FOR 2007 ELECTIONS
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago today urged Congress to pass a simple version of the 2006 budget to cover the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) preparatory activities for the 2007 elections, instead of the “2006 supplemental budget” proposed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The Senate committee on finance today held a hearing on the DBM’s proposal to allocate P46.42 billion as a supplemental budget to “cover funding deficiencies of the government in the event that the 2006 National Budget is unacted upon by Congress.”
Until now, Congress has yet to pass what Malacañang calls the “long overdue” 2006 national budget.
According to Santiago, Congress should enact a 2006 budget that includes the appropriations made in the 2005 budget plus meritorious items in the DBM’s proposal, such as the P250 million allocation for the Comelec’s preparatory activities for the 2007 elections and the P1.31 billion allocation for the modernization of the electoral system.
Santiago said that the DBM’s proposed supplemental budget is a mix of proposals that appears to have been hastily assembled. She said the supplemental budget included valid requests for urgent activities, such as the conduct of the 2007 elections and the modernization of the electoral system. However, it also included some entirely new proposals, such as a P3.2 billion subsidy for the MRT 3, payment of government counterpart contributions to the HDMF, GSIS, and Philhealth going back to 1981, and adjustments in salaries and benefits of uniformed personnel.
Santiago said the proposed supplemental budget is in the nature of a special appropriations bill for which the Constitution requires a certification of funds from the National Treasurer or an accompanying revenue proposal. She said passing a simple version of the 2006 budget will do away with these Constitutional requirements, and will show that Congress is doing its primary job of enacting a national budget.
The senator said that in the event Congress is still unable to pass a simple version of the 2006 budget that includes appropriations for the Comelec’s preparatory activities for the 2007 elections and for the electoral modernization program, the problem can still be remedied through the process of augmentation. According to Santiago, since the 2005 budget is deemed reenacted due to the failure of Congress to pass a 2006 budget, the government can generate some of its savings to augment the Comelec’s budget. The government can do the same thing for other programs and activities outlined in the DBM’s proposal, provided that there are items in the 2005 budget that could be augmented, and the total authorized appropriations does not exceed the total non-debt service component of the 2005 budget.
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