Loren calls for thorough scrutiny of national budget

The Senate Committee on Finance should not only center its probe on two items of P200 million allocation for a single road project, but also on every aspect of the 2008 National Budget submitted by Malacanang.

Senator Loren Legarda made the statement yesterday as she indicated her support for the snowballing call on the senate to start in earnest the investigation on the controversial double insertion for C-5 Extension Road worth P400 million.

"This is not loose change which we can ignore, especially during hard times when millions of people are hobbled up by abject poverty," said Legarda during the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Hotel.

"Every aspect of this budget must be scrutinized to see to it that our meager resources would go to where they are supposed to go," she said, adding that it was not in anyway politically-motivated intended for the 2010 national election.

"Let's not trivialize this into main political machinenation and political bickering because understanding the budget is indeed a hard task," she explained.

According to Legarda, whoever caused the insertion of the additional P200 million for the C-5 Extension project should come out in the open, and explain once and for all if the alleged insertion was done intentionally for the benefit of who.

The Finance Committee chaired by Senator Juna Ponce Enrile, according to Legarda, is likely to conduct the hearing, although the date has not yet been determined.

Legarda revealed that Enrile has already told her that the Committee is bound to conduct such hearing on the strength of a resolution sponsored by eight Senators.

The controversy stemmed from two budget items worth P200 million each intended for the C-5 Extension Project and the Pres. C.P. Garcia Avenue, which turned out to be one and the same.

Legarda maintained that there was nothing wrong for amendment if they call it that way, saying amendment is a right of both the Houses of Congress to scrutinize the budget submitted by Malacanang.