MAR: SHIELD ALLOCATION OF KEY FUNDS FROM POLITICKING
ROXAS LAW ON EDUCATION COULD BE APPLIED TO HEALTH, AGRI, ETC.

In light of allegations that Malacañang bribed local government officials and congressmen, Senator Mar Roxas today said that the allocation of funds for key social and economic services must be shielded from politicking.

He said funds for healthcare, agriculture and other key government services should be distributed among local government units according to clear measures of need, as what Republic Act No. 7880, otherwise known as the "Roxas Law," has set for classroom construction funds.

"Dati-rati, yung paggastos sa classroom ng Department of Education, dumadaan ito sa hindi klaro na batayan. Noong ako ay naging kongresista noong 1993, sabi ko na yung edukasyon, ilayo sa pulitika, ilayo sa favoritism, ilayo sa mga political horse-trading," he said.

"Kakampi ka man o hinde, Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao ka man, Kampi, Lakas, Liberal, Nacionalista, kahit ano'ng partido mo, kahit ano'ng rehiyon ang pinagmulan mo, pro rata ang pag-release ng pera ng DepEd. Iyan ang batas," he added, stressing the purpose of the law he authored as Capiz representative.

Roxas said that the same mechanism may be applied to funds of the Department of Health for its preventive and curative services, as well as the funds of the Department of Agriculture for the provision of farm inputs such as fertilizers.

"Siguro pwede namang gawing by priority, yung health naman, Sa Department of Health, alisin din natin sa pulitika. Yung budget for curative, kung saan maraming may sakit, doon dapat yung pera. Yung prevention, pro rata, depende sa populasyon," he said.

"Sa DA, yung mga siyudad, wala na sigurong hiwa ng budget, urban na sila e. Nagkaroon na ng iskandalo ang fertilizer fund, napupunta sa urban areas," he added, recalling the fertilizer fund scam two years back.

Roxas said if the executive branch really wants to implement good governance in the management of funds, such safeguards and clear metrics must be put in place to ensure that these go to development purposes and shield these from whims of the political leadership.

"Minumungkahi natin na talaga dapat ganyan ang paggamit sa pera ni Juan de la Cruz, kase hindi naman pera ng Malacañang ito e, pera ni Juan de la Cruz ito," he said.

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RA 7880, or the Fair and Equitable Access to Education Act of 1995 provides a system wherein education funds are allocated nationwide in proportion to the student population of a Congressional district. This remedied the previously unclear system as to where education funds go, which was prone to abuse by persons of influence for the benefit of their respective districts, at the expense of the others.

Roxas is seeking to tweak the bill further through Senate Bill No. 104, which seeks to narrow the school building gap by increasing the outlay for areas with capital shortages to 60% of the outlay from the current 40%, for a period of three years, to correct the current situation.

The senator is also pushing for amendments to the Expanded Value-Added Tax law through Senate Bill No. 102 by earmarking 30% of all VAT revenues�the portion that represents additional revenues due to the EVAT law�to service education and healthcare needs of the people.

"We want to shield the people's supreme sacrifice from discretionary spending. We want to make sure that these funds only go to the improvement of education and healthcare services," he stressed.

The proposed amendment also provides that these funds be deposited to a separate "People's Fund" account under the National Treasury, separate from the general fund.