Amid claims of re-enacted budget from opposition

 

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will submit the proposed 2010 national budget to Congress on Aug. 27, exactly a month after her last State of the Nation Address, and amid the opposition’s claims that Malacañang wants a re-enacted budget in time for next year’s elections.

"We have 30 days to submit our proposed budget after Congress convenes. Our State of the Nation Address was on July 27 so on Aug. 27 we will submit our budget," she said during the inauguration of the Maasin City wet market in Southern Leyte yesterday.

Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves, in a text message to reporters, said the Development Budget Coordination Council has yet to meet on the matter, adding no ballpark figure has yet been identified for the 2010 budget proposal.

The House of Representatives, meanwhile, prefers an earlier submission of the 2010 budget to meet an October deadline set by Speaker Prospero C. Nograles, House committee on appropriations and Quirino Rep. Junie E. Cua said.

"We would want the budget proposal to be submitted earlier, to give us more time to deliberate, but if they cannot do it, I guess we would have to work double time so that the set schedule would push through," he said.

Congress wants the 2010 General Appropriations Bill ratified by December to avoid a re-enacted budget, he said, adding budget priority items would include education, health services, and infrastructure.

He also cited the possibility of putting up another economic stimulus fund from the debt payment allocation. The government is currently utilizing a P330-billion economic stimulus fund aimed at pump-priming the economy.

Also yesterday, President Arroyo said her administration remains committed to cutting the budget deficit as part of fiscal reforms aimed at protecting the country from the global recession.

The government has widened this year’s deficit ceiling to P250 billion or 3.2% of the gross domestic product from P199.2 billion previously as it expects revenues to dip due to the economic slowdown.

"We will continue to exercise fiscal prudence. Let us not overspend. We need to balance our budget while investing in human and physical infrastructure," she said.

"We need to continue strengthening our economy. We have to give it all we’ve got so we don’t get caught in the global recession that has affected other countries," the President added.

Senator Manuel A. Roxas II earlier claimed Malacañang is deliberately delaying submission of the 2010 budget program to force the re-enactment of this year’s budget from which some P300 billion in "rough savings" could be drawn and used for questionable purposes.

Mr. Roxas said a re-enacted budget is "dangerous" especially during the election season.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. have also called on the Palace to submit its proposal immediately, saying the filing of the certificates of candidacy by November might derail the passage of important measures such as the budget. — Bernardette S. Sto. Domingo and Jhoanna Frances S. Valdez