Opposition reeling from PNoy’s popularity
Lawmakers allied with the former administration are now feeling the burden of being part of the opposition and being up against a very popular President.
Quezon province Rep. Danilo Suarez and Zambales Rep. Maria Milagros Magsaysay find the popularity of President Benigno Aquino III “alarming" because the public takes whatever he says "hook, line and sinker."
Suarez and Magsaysay are both allies of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is now a member of the Lower House representing Pampanga’s second district.
Suarez said he noticed that most of those who listened to Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday took as Gospel truth all the figures mentioned by the President.
"Ang isang nakakagambala sa akin at sa aking mga kasamahan ay ang popularity ng pangulo. Nung sinabi niya na ang natitira na lamang na pwede niyang gastusin ay P100 billion, parang ang lumalabas yung 1.4 trillion nagastos namin (previous administration) at P100 billion na lang ang natitira," Suarez said.
(What bothers me and my colleagues is the President’s popularity. When he said that only P100 billion remains for him to spend, it was as if the previous administration already spent the P1.4 trillion and only P100 billion remains.)
Congress had approved P1.541 trillion as the national government’s budget for 2010.
"Sa masang Pilipino pinapalakpakan, nakita ko naman sa monitor na tuwang tuwa sila. ‘Kawawa naman pala ang Pangulo, wala na palang maibigay na programa para sa mahirap’," the Quezon lawmaker added.
(On the part of the Filipino masses, they applaud him with glee like I saw on the monitors. They say, "Oh our poor President, they left him nothing, no program to give to the poor.")
President Aquino enjoys the trust of 85 percent of the Filipinos, according to a survey conducted by Pulse Asia. A similar survey by the Social Weather Station said the figure was 88 percent.
In a counter-SONA presented by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, the House minority bloc on Tuesday contested point by point the numbers presented by Aquino. (See: House minority counters Aquino SONA point by point)
Lagman said Aquino was grossly misinformed when he claimed that what remains of the P1.540-trillion national budget for 2010 is only P100 billion, or 6.5 percent.
Citing records from the Bureau of the Treasury, Lagman said national government expenditures as of June 30, 2010 amounted to P788.8 billion.
“In other words, 751 billion 767 million pesos (P751.8 billion) or 48.78% of the budget remains unspent," he said.
He said the problem in the President’s accounting must have been caused by a lack of understanding of the difference between “allocation" as covered by a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO), and actual disbursement to pay accrued or matured obligations.
“This is also compounded by failing to appreciate the import of the three general items of expenditures on personal services, maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlay vis-à-vis release of funds," the lawmaker said.
He said the Aquino administration must have been looking only at the capital outlay, where the balance as of May 31 was a little more that P105 billion, or 47.18 percent of the total appropriation.
The next day, Budget undersecretary Mario Relampagos said there is nothing irregular with the Arroyo administration’s spending but it should have been more prudent. (See: Aquino tackled moral not legal issues in SONA)
Suarez said that whatever the opposition will say, it will be rejected by the pro-Aquino majority. "Kaya gulpi kaming nasa minority (And so we in the minority are mauled)," he said.
Magsaysay, for her part, said President Aquino’s officials should be more responsible in providing him with details.
"His official family should be more careful next time and provide him with correct dates because whatever he says will be taken hook, line and sinker by the people," she said.—Amita O. Legaspi/JV, GMANews.TV
Quezon province Rep. Danilo Suarez and Zambales Rep. Maria Milagros Magsaysay find the popularity of President Benigno Aquino III “alarming" because the public takes whatever he says "hook, line and sinker."
Suarez and Magsaysay are both allies of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is now a member of the Lower House representing Pampanga’s second district.
Suarez said he noticed that most of those who listened to Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday took as Gospel truth all the figures mentioned by the President.
"Ang isang nakakagambala sa akin at sa aking mga kasamahan ay ang popularity ng pangulo. Nung sinabi niya na ang natitira na lamang na pwede niyang gastusin ay P100 billion, parang ang lumalabas yung 1.4 trillion nagastos namin (previous administration) at P100 billion na lang ang natitira," Suarez said.
(What bothers me and my colleagues is the President’s popularity. When he said that only P100 billion remains for him to spend, it was as if the previous administration already spent the P1.4 trillion and only P100 billion remains.)
Congress had approved P1.541 trillion as the national government’s budget for 2010.
"Sa masang Pilipino pinapalakpakan, nakita ko naman sa monitor na tuwang tuwa sila. ‘Kawawa naman pala ang Pangulo, wala na palang maibigay na programa para sa mahirap’," the Quezon lawmaker added.
(On the part of the Filipino masses, they applaud him with glee like I saw on the monitors. They say, "Oh our poor President, they left him nothing, no program to give to the poor.")
President Aquino enjoys the trust of 85 percent of the Filipinos, according to a survey conducted by Pulse Asia. A similar survey by the Social Weather Station said the figure was 88 percent.
In a counter-SONA presented by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, the House minority bloc on Tuesday contested point by point the numbers presented by Aquino. (See: House minority counters Aquino SONA point by point)
Lagman said Aquino was grossly misinformed when he claimed that what remains of the P1.540-trillion national budget for 2010 is only P100 billion, or 6.5 percent.
Citing records from the Bureau of the Treasury, Lagman said national government expenditures as of June 30, 2010 amounted to P788.8 billion.
“In other words, 751 billion 767 million pesos (P751.8 billion) or 48.78% of the budget remains unspent," he said.
He said the problem in the President’s accounting must have been caused by a lack of understanding of the difference between “allocation" as covered by a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO), and actual disbursement to pay accrued or matured obligations.
“This is also compounded by failing to appreciate the import of the three general items of expenditures on personal services, maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlay vis-à-vis release of funds," the lawmaker said.
He said the Aquino administration must have been looking only at the capital outlay, where the balance as of May 31 was a little more that P105 billion, or 47.18 percent of the total appropriation.
The next day, Budget undersecretary Mario Relampagos said there is nothing irregular with the Arroyo administration’s spending but it should have been more prudent. (See: Aquino tackled moral not legal issues in SONA)
Suarez said that whatever the opposition will say, it will be rejected by the pro-Aquino majority. "Kaya gulpi kaming nasa minority (And so we in the minority are mauled)," he said.
Magsaysay, for her part, said President Aquino’s officials should be more responsible in providing him with details.
"His official family should be more careful next time and provide him with correct dates because whatever he says will be taken hook, line and sinker by the people," she said.—Amita O. Legaspi/JV, GMANews.TV
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