HOTSPOT
If there are what we could consider among the most essential government programs, two would be quite familiar to many Filipinos, and I suppose nobody would question the decision of the House appropriations committee to raise the budget for them by a whopping ₱1.29 billion.
Committee senior vice chair and Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo said ₱646,532,796 would be re-allocated to the program called Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) which the Department of Social Welfare and Development says “provides medical assistance, burial, transportation, education, food, or financial assistance for other support services or needs of a person or family.”
Quimbo said another ₱646,533,796 would go to the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP), a Department of Health program that aims to “provide continuous access to medical assistance to lessen the burden of eligible patients.”
Both programs provide a lifeline to many, especially the poor and disadvantaged, and even the middle class whose limited reserves or resources could be quickly dissipated by extreme emergencies. Hopefully, Congress would approve this re-allocation decision of the House committee, and be included in the final bill for the President’s signature.
If that happens, this will set a precedent on how the budget is proposed, discussed, clarified, approved by Congress, and enacted into law by the President. It is a precedent that resets that power dynamic by giving back control to Congress the rightful “power of the purse.”
It is not a secret where the funds come from. It is coming entirely from the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President.
Between the DSWD and the DOH, and the OVP, I believe the money would be better spent under the auspices of agencies that have a track record of spending it for the stated purpose and, more importantly, know fully well the obligation to account for each peso spent or disbursed.
Some ask: Was the House being petty and vindictive against Vice President Sara Duterte, who refused to answer the lawmakers’ questions and even went so far as to demand the replacement of the presiding officer? Maybe. But in the constitutional allocation of duties and powers, the budget falls squarely on the shoulders of Congress, specifically the House.
The committee in fact just followed Duterte’s position that it is up to the House to do what it wants to do with the OVP’s proposed budget, whether to approve or to reject it.
The 1987 Constitution mentions the Vice President about 30 times, but nowhere is it stated that the OVP shall operate a mini-government, with a mini-DSWD, mini-DOH, mini-NDRRMC, or mini-PSG, without oversight or accountability. Past vice presidents have managed to stay relevant and helpful without the need for billions in budget for operations, and have tried not to slash budgets from essential frontline services already being delivered by line agencies.
The reallocation of the OVP budget in favor of the DSWD and DOH should lead to more efforts to prune the agencies' proposed budgets. Done right, the strict examination and sunsetting of corruption-prone, non-productive, and questionable expenditures could lead to higher and adequate budgets for other agencies such as the Department of Science and Technology (especially PHIVOLCS and PAGASA), state universities and colleges, and for programs for arts and culture, for sports infrastructure such as new gymnasiums, for public parks development, and for supporting entrepreneurship. Taxpayers would certainly appreciate investments in these areas of concern for them.
By the way, another ₱10-million could — or should — still be re-allocated by the House appropriations committee from the proposed OVP budget. Instead of spending it on one book, the House and the Senate could agree to give the same amount to the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino and the National Book Development Board. The agencies could use the amount to commission 10 or more new books for children from renowned and rising Filipino children’s book authors and illustrators, in Filipino and the other Philippine national languages.
The topics could range from friendship to accountability, patriotism to respect for others, honesty to justice, modest living to doing good work, and public service to how the government works.
No squid tactics or squid ink is needed here.