ROXAS: INSERTIONS MIGHT BE LEGAL BUT CERTAINLY IMPROPER PUSHES FOR TRANSPARENCY IN BUDGET PROCESS

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today said the established practice of "Congressional insertions" in the yearly General Appropriations Act will have to give way to a more transparent budget deliberation process.

He said this, as he recently filed Senate Bill No. 2623, the proposed Congressional Insertions Transparency Act of 2008, which seeks to mandate the full disclosure of any and all Congressional insertions.

"Insertions might be legal but are certainly improper. The procedure may have been followed, but buried in that thick book called the GAA are various things that are done in secret and escape the public eye," he said.

"Dapat gawing transparent ang proseso. Na kahit pa subukin nilang magtago ng kung anu-ano, puwersado silang ilahad ang mga ito. Ang taumbayan na ang maghuhusga kung ang isinasalaksak ba ng mga mambabatas sa budget ay para sa interes ng nakararami o para sa iilan lang," he stressed.

Roxas, who is pushing for a full probe into the alleged double allocation for the C-5 extension to Sucat Road, lamented that when it comes to money matters in the Philippines, there are always two books: what's true and what's sanitized.

"Kung sa pribadong sector, may totoong libro na nagpapakita ng tunay na kita ng kumpanya, pero may libro rin na pang-BIR. Sa pananalapi ng gobyerno, ganoon din: may pang-'tayo-tayo' at may pang-publiko," he said.

"Governance in our country is mired with secret deals and modus operandi. To the detriment of the people, because what's involved is their hard-earned money that they so entrusted to the government. Transparency is a bare minimum that government owes them," he stressed.

The Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Commerce said transparency must be established not only in the budget deliberations process but also in how public funds are being disbursed. He noted that, in practice, the executive is able to realign funds for other purposes. "We should require the disclosure these and track what happened to the funds, how decisions were made, and most especially, who benefited."

He also said the questionable practice of lump-sum appropriations--like the questionable acquisition programs of the Department of Agriculture--should give way to specific appropriations where delivery to beneficiaries is ensured.

The Senator earlier filed SB 109, the Free Information Act, that would require the expeditious processing of requests for public information in government offices. He has also filed SB 1793, amending the Government Procurement Reform Act, stressing the need for utmost transparency when dealing with the people's money.