Line-item budgeting of P70.7-B fund for Bangsamoro – Escudero

Newsdig coverage by Cbanga360.net

MANILA, April 14 – Line-item budgeting is the way to go for the funding of the proposed Bangsamoro government if Bicolano Senator Francis Escudero will have his way. The senator said on Tuesday he will push for the line-item budgeting of the PhP70-billion that the proposed Bangsamoro government stands to receive during its fiscal year alone.

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“I don’t question the amount per se. I have always said that Mindanao should get its fair share from the government. But we want to know how, where, when and who will spend this. Will it be beneficial to all Bangsamoro people? Will it go to where it should go?” Escudero pointed out.

“Let’s face it. The government is providing PhP70 billion in one swoop, and every Filipino contributed his or her hard earned money there. We want to know if this will be spent fairly and judiciously to all Bangsamoro people, whether they belong with the MILF or not,” he added.

Escudero, whose Senate Committee on Finance has come out with a breakdown of the total funding under the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) proposal, said the spending package could still go up.

“This is just a ballpark figure. They can impose taxes and fees and charges on their own. They can explore and exploit natural resources and these have not yet been factored in,” Escudero explained.

Based on the computation of the Finance committee, PhP25.2 billion of the PhP70 billion will come from the Annual Block Grant; PhP7 billion from the Special Development Fund; PhP1 billion from the Transition Fund; PhP12.6 billion from the National Government Subsidy; PhP19.9 billion from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA); PhP1.7 billion from the ARMM/Bangsamoro collections; and a one-time PhP2.6 billion Normalization Fund.

These allocations, Escudero said, do not include revenue-generating measures that the Bangsamoro government is empowered to impose such as taxes and fees.

Escudero said itemizing the budget will also show redundancy of funding as already shown in the lump sum proposal.

“The current ARMM-IRA share for 2015 is at PhP18 billion. In the additional LGU (local government unit) under the BBL proposal, there is an additional PhP1.80 billion share, which makes the IRA share at PhP19.8 billion. BBL still wants a continuous IRA share coming from different parts of the Philippines even after the law is passed, but the national government will not have a single centavo share from their IRA,” Escudero explained.

He also debunked the position of the government peace negotiators that the BBL does not have a high price tag in terms of budget. He said the Annual Block Grant alone, which is by far the biggest amount among the breakdown, seems to have been left out in terms of numbers in the proposal.

“The proposal did not specify the exact amount of this fund. But take note that under Article XII, Section 15 of the BBL proposal, the block grant cannot be lower than the last budget received by the ARMM. For 2015, ARMM received PhP25.22 billion,” he said.

“We are pouring in so much money in the region. What are we, our people, getting out of it? That’s why we have to study it carefully, specify all items carefully, fairly and judiciously,” Escudero stressed. (PNA)

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