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John W. Gardner, US Secretary of Health and Education, 1965-68 |
Prof. Boncodin, in one of the forums she had appeared in to help people understand the the national budget and what people could do to protect it from corruption and wastage.
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Poor Budgeting, Too Many Contingency, and Special Purpose Funds and ‘Savings’ – All A Recipe For Corruption |
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Tuesday, 01 February 2011 |
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Without commenting on who is charging what about whom in the AFP right now, it is not difficult to see how pabaon (send-off money) scandals can so easily happen. Blue Ribbon Committee hearings and politicians talk incessantly about slush funds - and they seem to feature in every high level case of alleged corruption: But as yet, we don’t seem to link the ubiquitous slush funds with the ubiquitous and hugely discretionary contingency and special purpose funds (and dare we say it again, the PDAF/Pork Barrel Allocations) which are written into national budgets and approved by legislative committees year after year.
To stop taxpayers paying for Californian condominiums and first-class shopping sprees around the world in the future, we must get rid of all those discretionary lines under which ‘slush money’ may be hidden and paid. Simply put, it is not fair to rely on the Commission on Audit to spot anomalies after the event and after the money has been spent – it is for those in charge of putting the budget together and those whose legislative duty it is to examine and approve to identify and strike out the dark areas of the budget where money can be quietly put and then seemingly whisked away.
Of course, all governments and departments face contingencies and there should always be money allocated to the likes of the Calamity Fund – but it seems far too often there are no proper rules or controls enforced over their use. Essentially, the more rigorous and transparent the budget and the more detail that goes into explaining and accounting for each individual line, the better we will all be.
In a related issue, while in Davao last week and following our useful transparency and accountability roundtable that featured Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, some people alleged that in many towns and cities of Mindanao, local government budgetary savings last year were so great that anything between PhP 20,000 – 50,000 (USD 454-1,136) were given out to all local government employees. This was over and above the obligatory 13th month payment and is very common practice according to people who were discussing it after the roundtable. Incidentally, none of the towns mentioned were in Maguindanao.
It may not be corrupt, but it immediately begs the questions – why were the savings not invested in projects to benefit the local community as a whole, rather than simply given out to government employees (it is taxpayers’ money after all); and just how effective and accurate does that mean budgetary planning is? Perhaps this is a regular thing that happens each year –if so, what does that tell us all? What does the AFP and other government departments do with any savings they have left over each year? Again, this is where we can end up having very serious misuse of public money. If some people are too focused on ensuring end of year savings and thinking about how best to ‘dispose’ of them, it means they are not focused on the job at hand - which is delivering the agreed services to the people.
We will be looking into this in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you have any comments, thoughts or information you wish to tell us in confidence about this alleged ‘savings’ practise at either the national or local level, do please let us know.
Alan Davis
Director, Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project
Head of Asia, Institute for War and Peace Reporting
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PROJECT NEWS
 PPTRP holds 10th budget reporting training in Bohol June 30
The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) held its 10th training on advanced transparency and anti-corruption reporting called “Numeracy for Journalists, Civil Society Organizations and Citizens” on June 30 at the JJ’s Seafood Village in Tagbilaran City in Bohol. READ MORE
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 PPTRP holds 9th budget transparency reporting training in Kidapawan City June 6
The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) held its 9th training on advanced and anti-corruption reporting dubbed as “Numeracy for Journalists, Civil Society Organizations and Citizens” on June 6 at Boylyn Pension Plaza in Kidapawan City. The training was made possible with the financial assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the technical assistance of the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI). READ MORE
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PPTRP holds 8th budget reporting training in Pampanga June 3
The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) held its 8th training on advanced and anti-corruption reporting dubbed as “Numeracy for Journalists, Civil Society Organizations and Citizens” on June 3 at the Social Action Center of Pampanga in San Fernando City, Pampanga. READ MORE
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 PPTRP-supported Local Transparency Groups Share Experiences in Reporting, Fighting Corruption
Three local transparency reporting groups which the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) supported and helped establish gathered on June 3 in Bohol to share experiences in building transparency and accountability in their respective communities. READ MORE
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 PPTRP holds 7th budget reporting training in Davao City May 27
The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) held its seventh training on advanced transparency and anti-corruption reporting called “Numeracy for Journalists, Civil Society Organizations and Citizens” on May 27 at the Ateneo De Davao in Davao City. READ MORE
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 PPTRP holds 6th budget transparency reporting in Dipolog City May 23
The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) held its 6th training on advanced transparency and anti-corruption reporting called “Numeracy for Journalists, Civil Society Organizations and Citizens” on May 23 at the Top Plaza Hotel in Dipolog City. READ MORE
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 PPTRP meets with editors and columnists May 18 to discuss media coverage of public corruption
The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project met with editors and columnists of selected national and international media organizations May 18 in Manila to discuss current media behavior and thinking in relation to public corruption and transparency. READ MORE
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 PPTRP meets NBN ZTE scam whistle blower Rodolfo Lozada May 9
Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, the former CEO of the Philippine Forest Corporation who later disclosed explosive information on the anomalous USD 329 million NBN-ZTE deal that nearly brought down the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, shared his views May 9 with the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project on continuing the fight against corruption and for genuine transparency under the new administration. READ MORE
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 PPTRP holds 5th budget reporting training in Ozamiz City April 26
The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project held its fifth training on advanced transparency and anti-corruption reporting called “Numeracy for Journalists, Civil Society Organizations and Citizens” on April 26 at the Naomi’s Botanical Gardens in Ozamiz City. READ MORE
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 PPTRP holds 4th training on budget reporting in CDO April 2
The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) held its fourth training on advanced transparency and anti-corruption reporting called “Numeracy for Journalists, Civil Society Organizations and Citizens” on April 2 in Cagayan de Oro City. READ MORE
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Comments
This is the type of information that's been withheld from the Filipino citizens. Few Filipinos are aware of the total amount of interest incurred on a daily basis.
If we really want transparency and accountability to check and prevent potential corruption, then we must begin to open the actual/real time figures.
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