Senate panel okays OP's proposed P8.1-B budget for 2022

The Senate finance subcommittee on Wednesday approved the proposed P8.1 billion budget of the Office of the President for 2022.

The deliberations, however, took longer than the usual OP budget briefings as senators raised the issue of ‘For Later Release’ or FLR budgetary items.

It was Senator Nancy Binay who asked the representatives of the OP for the status of the FLR items under the 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Citing data from recent budget hearings, Binay said around P100 billion or 30% of the 2021 budget for the projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways have yet to be released.

With three months remaining in 2021, the senator pointed out that these projects have not yet started nor were they bidded out. 

“Binigyan natin ng allocation ito last year as part of Build, Build, Build program. But it’s nakakagulat, mag-o-October na in a few days. And then may maririnig tayo ng P100 billion worth of projects na alam natin can generate a lot of jobs na kailangan na kailangan natin ngayon pero hanggang ngayon 'di pa nai-implement,” she said.

(We have given these [projects] an allocation last year as part of the Build, Build, Build program. But surprisingly it will be October in a few days and yet we hear of P100 billion worth of projects that we know can generate a lot of jobs that we need now but these were not yet implemented.)

Binay likewise mentioned that the funding for the Doktor Para sa Bayan Act or the law providing medical scholarships to aspiring doctors are also classified as FLR items.

She warned that the funds for these projects, if not used by the end of year, will no longer serve their purpose as these will be reverted to the National Treasury.

Senator Sonny Angara, who presided over the budget hearing, affirmed Binay’s concern, saying these are the rules under the cash-based budgeting system.

Acting Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Michael Ong explained that the FLR are limited to the new budgetary items that were not included in the Executive Department’s priority programs specified under the National Expenditures Program (NEP).

“Many of these—because they are not in the NEP—have not gone through in the usual vetting process of the agencies and so there’s good reason to place them in a category of their own which warrants the imposition of special conditions for their release,” Ong said.

“We acknowledge and we recognize the collective wisdom of Congress on these budgetary items in the GAA for 2021 but we have to, as these are not part of the original plan, we have to make sure that they are vetted fully by the agencies and the [Department of Budget and Management] before they are released. And that’s why they are being subject to the approval of the President as well,” he added.

Angara then asked Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea if the OP could prioritize the release of the budget for the medical scholarships, highlighting the need for more doctors amid the health crisis.

“Baka puwede i-prioritize ang medical scholarships kasi that is much needed, I think, by the country. It would also give flesh to the cooperation, nabanggit ni ES ang cooperation between the two branches of government,” Angara said.

(Maybe we could prioritize the medical scholarships because that is much need, I think, by the country. It would also give flesh to the cooperation which ES has mentioned a while ago, between the two branches of the government.)

Medialdea assured the senators that they will immediately look into this.

“We’ll have to look at it and rest assured patitingnan ko agad (I will have it checked) right after this hearing,” Medialdea said.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri likewise raised the issue of the FLR, noting that there are concerns from other senators that could hamper the 2022 budget deliberations.

“All of my colleagues have been asking me of the FLR or the institutional amendments and of course, I sound like a broken record because I keep saying that it is coming out soon,” Zubiri said.

“It would be difficult for me to shepherd the budget when there are questions like this that hound us all the time. As a matter of fact, it is becoming more difficult for us right now to push things forward because of these questions,” he added.

Medialdea assured the senators that all the FLRs will be released. He added that his office will investigate if the funds for FLR projects were not being released after the OP’s approval.

Zubiri then asked for an executive session with Medialdea to discuss his colleagues’ concerns on the budgetary items tagged as FLR.

For 2022, the OP has proposed P8.182 billion for its operations.

Of the P8.182 billion budget of the OP, P5.143 billion will be allotted to the Presidential Oversight Program, P916 million for Presidential Executive Staff Services Program, P85 million for Presidential Legal an Legislative Services Program, and P84 million for Presidential Advisory Program.

The OP still allocated P4.5 billion for its confidential and intelligence budget in 2022.

This was the same amount for their confidential funds in 2021. 

As of September 30, the OP has already utilized P2.950 billion of the P4.5 billion intelligence funds this year.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Management Staff has proposed a budget of P751.1 million for 2022. This is P40 million lesser than its 2021 budget of P791.6 million. —KG, GMA News