STRICT SCRUTINY ON
2016
BUDGET TO THWART UNDERSPENDING
Senator Chiz Escudero
vowed to exercise a stricter scrutiny of the 2016 national budget in order to
prevent a repeat of last year’s public underspending that slowed down the
economy in the first quarter of the year.
Escudero, chairman of
the Senate Committee on Finance, said he will ask the Department of Budget and
Management to explain how the government will eliminate the problem of
underspending largely due to the low absorptive capacity of state agencies.
“Nandoon ang pera
pero hindi pa nagagastos dahil mabagal at mahina ang absorptive capacity ng
gobyerno, at ‘yun nga ang rason kung
bakit nagkakaroon ng underspending,” Escudero explained.
“Ang isang gagawin
namin sa budget ng 2016 ay kung hindi pa alam kung saan ilalagay, hindi na muna
namin ibibigay,” he added.
Escudero said it was
not good for the government to underspend because it deprives citizens of
essential public goods and services they rightly deserve such as improved
education, better healthcare, and more roads and bridges.
He also demanded
safeguards from the Government Procurement and Policy Board (GPPB), which is
responsible for overseeing the government’s procurement system, to ensure
efficiency and effectiveness of public spending.
The GPPB, he said,
must do something to address bidding controversies such as in the procurement
of helicopters, armored personnel carrier and force protector gear by the
Department of National Defense.
“Lahat ng pondo para
sa mga ito ay nasa 2009 hanggang 2011 national budget pa ngunit hanggang ngayon
ay hindi pa naa-award dahil nag-rebid, nagkakaso, nag-arbitration; but that’s
an adjustment that the GPPB should do,” Escudero pointed out. /MP
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