Senators on Sunday bewailed the unused appropriations under the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA) that have been marked by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) as “For Later Release,” saying the fund could have been used to address critical government projects that are in dire need of funding during this time of COVID-19 pandemic.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said he believes politics is a consideration in the non-release of these “FLR’d” budget items that have reached P160-billion, noting that the upcoming May 2022 presidential elections is less than 10 months away.
“The budget items marked ‘For Later Release’ means that such items can only be released upon the authority of the President, or the DBM Secretary or any other official acting on the authority of the President,” Drilon said.
“This is lamentable because these funds are needed by our people who needs assistance due to the pandemic,” the minority leader stressed.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said these public funds that were withheld is “a wasted opportunity to help create jobs and grow the economy.”
“There seems to be no sense of urgency,” Recto lamented.
Drilon pointed out governemnt programs that are designed to stimulate and expand the economy are not being implemented, when 20 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is attributed to government spending.
“The execution of laws, which includes the release of funds in the budget, is a prerogative of the President under the Constitution. But such prerogative is intended to be exercised for the public good, and not based on partisan politics,” he said.
“Why are P160-billion in infrastructure and social amelioration programs marked ‘FLR’ and not released, and yet P16.5-billion anti-insurgency funds were immediately released in the first quarter? Clearly, the priorities in the release of the funds are flawed,” the minority leader noted.
Sen. Sonny Angara, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, also pointed out that Congress was quick to help out the Executive department in expediting the passage into law of measures intended to augment the government’s COVID-19 response, particularly with the enactment into law of the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act or Bayanihan 2 and the passage of the Vaccination Act of 2021.
“But when it comes to measures passed by Congress, the lawmakers noted that some appropriations were released, others were not. I hope it would all be released, because we all need these programs to materialize knowing these would have a stimulus effect...” Angara said in an interview on Radio DZBB.
These programs, Angara pointed out, are intended to take up the slack of the private sector due to the drop in consumer demand.
“In terms of the budget, I hope we can all work together....Many people have lost their jobs, so a lot of people refuse to spend. There is less spending,” he said.