The government’s share from the lucrative Malampaya natural gas project has accumulated to P173 billion over the past 11 years and under a law, only the President is authorized to dispose of the funds. And over the past years, some P38.9 billion was spent from the fund. That huge amount of money should be enough to solve several funding problems of the government, including the budget deficit which is just a little over the total amount of the Malampaya fund. The Malampaya field found offshore of Palawan is the biggest fossil fuel found in the country and its supply was expected to last for 20 years. Consider the interest that the remainder P135 billion can earn just from the money market, money which would likely go undetected since the fund is safe from government audit. Noynoy and his self-righteous boys at the Palace can partake of the amount of interest from the funds and leave the principal intact and avoid raising any suspicions. The amount, although part of the Treasury, is considered a special fund the use of which is solely on the discretion of Noynoy. Thus it is a huge source of wonder why the use of the fund is not considered, despite the ongoing complaints from government of being short of financing, for instance, in setting up more schools or public hospitals. The fund is replenishable considering the 10 or more years that the field will provide natural gas, thus allowing the fund to just sit somewhere in the drawers of Malacañang is unconscionable. Congress should be allowed to scrutinize the fund since it constitutes earnings from a natural resource from which the nation should be benefiting. Once the natural gas reserve is exhausted, there is even a layer of crude oil that will be extracted from the field that even makes the project even more lucrative. Noynoy has been trumpeting the need for the use of government money to be transparent and he can start with the complete accounting of the Malampaya funds, the intention of the government on how to use it and the detailing of what projects it has funded. The allegations that portions of the fund that supposedly would have helped farmers in typhoon-hit regions make it more compelling for Noynoy to be transparent about the presidential fund from Malampaya. As it is turning out, Noynoy has been enjoying benefits of pork barrel more than the legislators who suffer from the stigma of the discretionary funds through the Priority Development Assistance Fund. The practice in the previous administration of accumulating savings in the budget and to convert these into discretionary funds the next budget year is still a practice under Noynoy, and some P102 billion of funds at Noynoy’s disposal was generated from savings of different agencies in the past two years. Aside from the savings, Noynoy has huge sources of funds at his sole discretion based on the past practices of the nine-year rule of Gloria. The main source of Noynoy’s discretionary funds is the budget allotment for maintenance and other operating expenses into which the savings from a previous year’s budget are released only upon approval of the President. These funds are exempt from the usual auditing procedures and in place of an audit, a periodic report on “accomplishments” is submitted to the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, and the chairman of the Commission on Audit. Noynoy also has the President’s Social Fund which is sourced from earnings of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to finance development projects. Parts of revenues of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office also go to the Office of the President. He also has access to lump-sum items in the budget under the Special Purpose Funds, the spendings for which are also at the President’s discretion, such as the National Unification Fund, Calamity Fund, Contingent Fund, E-Government Fund, and certain funds categorized under allocations to local government units. Pork is good, Noynoy said, and he has good reasons for it.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 08:30:49 +0000
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