LAWMAKERS STAND TO LOSE, BUT PRESIDENT GMA STANDS
TO GAIN FROM NON-APPROVAL OF THE 2007 BUDGET

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said both the senators and the congressmen will gain nothing if the P1.126 trillion national budget for this year is not approved by Congress.

Pimentel said it is the people who will be greatly prejudiced by the non-approval of the budget bill because no funds will be available for the implementation of new projects or expansion of existing ones.

He urged the Senate and House panels in the bicameral conference committee to resolve their differences over the appropriations measure even before the resumption of the regular session on Jan. 22 to ensure its final approval by both chambers of Congress before adjourning for the election recess.

The minority leader said only President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stands to gain from any failure to break the deadlock since this will mean that the budget will be converted into a one big pork barrel or discretionary that she can easily divert to projects that are meant to boost her political stock or and the winning chances of her chosen or favored candidates in the national and local elections in May.

The stalemate in the bicameral conference committee stemmed from the congressmens objection to the Senates decision to transfer of P4.7 billion from the Food-for-School Program of the Department of Education to the construction of new school buildings and hiring of additional teachers.

The congressmen have also demanded the restoration of the P400 million intelligence fund under the Office of the President that was transferred by the Senate to the Department of National Defense.

Defending the Senates decision to realign the P4.7 billion funding for the Food-for-School Program, he said there is a strong ground to believe that the fund will be used by administration candidates to buy votes in the coming elections.

The fund is intended for the procurement of rice to be doled out to the parents of elementary pupils in public schools and their families.

What I cannot understand is why the whole amount will be used to procure rice. If they really want to address the problem of malnourishment among schoolchildren, why dont they use the money instead for milk, bread and other nutritious food? Pimentel asked.

He also asked why the supply of rice will be coursed through the local government units (LGUs) instead of being handled completely by the Department of Education.

Pimentel also questioned the governments practice of importing the rice supply instead of buying it from local farmers.

He added that what makes the Food-for-School Program more suspicious is the fact that only P1.6 billion was recommended by the President for the program in 2006 but this almost tripled to P4.7 billion under the 2007 budget bill approved by the House of Representatives.

Pimentel called on the Senate and House panels in the bicameral conference committee to work out a compromise by introducing a program that will effectively address the malnutrition problem among poor schoolchildren and cleansing it of the taint of partisan politics.