ShareThisPDAF out in nat’l gov’t budget of 2014
MANILA (PilipinasNews) -There is no more billions of pesos in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
This was stressed by Malacañang amid concerns over the realignment of funds of some senators, including the P100 million that Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada allocated for the city of Manila where his father is mayor.
“First and foremost, what is very, very clear under the law is that there is no more PDAF because the President, the Supreme Court (SC) already ruled there is no PDAF,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.
He added that lawmakers from both the House of Representatives and the Senate complied with the SC decision.
Lacierda affirmed that the PDAFs of senators of P200 million each and P70 million each of congessmen were no longer part of the 2014 national budget.
“Based on the decision of the Supreme Court, legislators from both the House and Senate complied with the SC decision,” he added.
Lacierda explained that senators no longer had anything to do with PDAFs since the Supreme Court stated that legislature has no participation after the passage of the budget.
He said that he already had a talk with Budget and Management Secretary Florencio ‘Butch’ Abad who said that since the realignment was introduced by the senators, there was a need to get their intentions.
“He (Estrada) would be in a better position to explain his act of realigning,” Lacierda said.
“If I remember the Supreme Court decision, they did not say all out that lump sums were wrong– that is why there are lump sum appropriations,” he added.
He also said that for the 2015 national budget, legislators will have more
opportunity and time to prepare the items they would like to include.
“We will adjust to what we call the new way of budget discussions with the executive branch, ” Lacierda said.
Lacierda said Budget Secretary Florencio Abad had also explained that Estrada’s realignment of his PDAF to the city of Manila where his father, former President Joseph Estrada, is the incumbent mayor, was part of the amendment introduced by the senators.
“The answer of Secretary Abad was that we need to study… we need to get their (side) or the intention of the senators insofar as this is concerned,” he said.
He said all realignments were part of the amendments that have been agreed upon by the bicameral conference committee that threshed out the final budget bill.
He said it is part of the legislative process, adding that the propriety of the insertions is up to lawmakers to explain.
Lacierda also clarified misimpres.
Meanwhile, President Aquino said that the newly-launched administration’s Cashless Purchase Card (CPC) program will address the alleged misuses of funds in the government.
“Our goal is to institutionalize reforms that make it very difficult for unscrupulous individuals to steal from the people—regardless of who sits in office. This is where the introduction of cashless transactions comes in,” the Chief Executive said in his speech during the Good Governance Summit held at the Philippine International Convention Center, CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City.
President Aquino led the ceremonial turnover of the Cashless Purchase Card during the 3-day summit which has for its theme “Good Governance through Open Government and Sustainable Procurement.”
The program, which is a joint effort between the Aquino administration and Citibank, enables the government agencies to make financial transactions entirely through electronic means instead of cash or checks.
“A recent study identified that one of the major financial risks remaining is the high volume of cash advances in agencies. The risks of this kind of system are obvious: the presence of large sums of cash in offices can pose a temptation to even the most honest employee—not to mention those who would willingly take advantage of such a situation,” President Aquino said.
“It is only appropriate that we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Procurement Reform Act by introducing a mechanism that modernizes government procurement: the launch of the Cashless Purchase Card or CPC Program. Cashless purchase cards will be issued to agencies, for low-value payments of a restricted number and type of goods and services,” the President said.
The turnover ceremony signaled the launch of the pilot phase of the Cashless Purchase Card system, which will be implemented in the three agencies, namely the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of National Defense, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“We are far from being a cashless society: 98 percent of all retail financial transactions in our country are still made in cash. The government seems to be ahead of the market, with 54 percent of its financial transactions already done through a cashless system. And, for the sake of accountability and efficiency, we are pushing the envelope further,” the President stressed.
The President said the cashless card will resemble ordinary credit cards, but will have additional restrictions more suited to the needs of government.
Through the Cashless Purchase Cards and other similar reforms, the President said the government financial transactions should be 100 percent checkless and 80 percent cashless before the end of this year.
“The cashless purchase cards will allow them to procure the necessary materials immediately—and, given that accounting for transactions is automatically done, suspicious use of the card can be tracked easily. On top of that, this system also allows us to capture and collate the correct data, which redounds to real benefits,” he said.