ANGARA FILES JOINT RESOLUTION CREATING A CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OVERSIGHT COMMISSION

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today files a joint resolution creating an oversight commission on the expenditure budget, saying it will monitor and keep a critical eye on the proper expenditure on projects and programs of the various departments of the government.

"The United States subprime lending has spread like a computer virus infecting the financial systems of the rich countries and then of the emerging markets. If not handled correctly, the financial crisis we see today will become tomorrow's human crisis," said Angara, who chairs Senate Committee on Finance.

He added, "Congress have agreed to utilize a two-pronged strategy; that is, to direct the country's limited resources to job creation and investments in human capital and to set up a mechanism in order to monitor and oversee a coordinated spending program among agencies."

With this positive collaboration on both houses of Congress, the national budget is expected to concentrate the public expenditure on basic infrastructure, education and health, housing and the environment, strongly complemented by a vigorous R&D and training program.

Under Joint Resolution No. 21, the Congressional Oversight Commission on Budget shall be created to be composed of the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Finance and the Committee on Appropriations of the House; six (6) members of the House of Representatives and six (6) members of the Senate to be designated by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate, respectively. The Speaker and the President of the Senate should be Ex-Officio members of the Commission.

As its objective, the Commission shall exercise the following functions and powers, among others: (1) Prescribe and adopt guidelines that will govern the work of the Commission; (2) Hold hearings, at least once a month, pertinent to its mandate; To require any person by subpoena duces tecum to produce before it such records, reports, documents or other materials as it may require; and generally require all the powers necessary to attain the purposes for which it is created; (3) Organize its staff and hire and appoint such employees and personnel whether temporary, contractual, or on consultancy, subject to applicable rules; (4) Submit periodic reports to the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, and to the President of the Philippines ten (10) days from the end of each quarter; and (5) Perform such other duties and functions as may be necessary to attain its objectives.

"The FY 2009 Budget is the best vehicle to pick up the slack in private consumption as the private sector continues to be hard hit by the ongoing crisis," said Angara.

In order to perform oversight functions, the Commission is empowered to require all government departments/ agencies including Government- Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCC's) to submit reports and all pertinent data and information relating to the performance of their respective functions.

In addition, the Budget Oversight Commission plans to meet monthly in order to effectively monitor budget expenditure and revenue performance of the government.

In the end, Angara said that this oversight committee - which will monitor government expenditures and revenue generation monthly - is an innovation that the country needs to ensure that the limited resources are spent wisely and prudently especially during these tough times.