THE Department of Budget and Management admitted on Wednesday that 84 percent of the P3-trillion budget for 2016 has already been released to agencies as of end April 2016, but this does not mean that the incoming administration has been left with little resources for its priority programs.
“It is not true that only 16 percent of the budget is left, contrary to the claim of the camp of former Vice President Jejomar Binay. That is an incorrect and malicious claim. Allotment releases to agencies do not indicate actual spending of funds,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.
An allotment gives an agency the authority to obligate funds for projects. When projects have been awarded, the funds have been obligated and it is only then that actual funds are disbursed to agencies to pay the contractors and suppliers, said the budget chief.
Abad clarified that of the total P3.002-trillion general appropriation in 2016, P2.505 trillion in allotments have already been released to government agencies. The remaining allotments amount to P496.3 billion and this is slated to be released later this year.
For Special Purpose Funds, as of May 2016, P157.4 billion has already been released out of the P446.4-billion total appropriation—a large share of which was for the Budgetary Support to Government Corporations at P43.1 billion and the Pension and Gratuity Fund at P41.6 billion.
This still leaves 75 percent, or P332.8 billion in SPFs, to be utilized by the incoming administration – with P58.0 billion for the miscellaneous personnel benefits of government personnel and P42.1 billion still intact for calamities.
Abad said the comprehensive release of agency budgets was made possible through the GAA-As-Release-Document regime, a public financial management reform in 2014 that phased out the Agency Budget Matrices and Special Allotment Release Orders from the budget process to facilitate the swift and efficient implementation of the expenditure program.
With the General Appropriations Act as the primary fund release document, agencies are now able to obligate funds for their projects in the beginning of the year and thereby accelerate spending.
“Let me assure the people and the incoming administration that the 2016 national budget was not squandered in the last elections and the appropriations in the budget are being released and spent according to the specific purposes and guidelines in the General Appropriations Act,” the budget chief said.
“We are proud to say that the next administration will inherit not only a financially stable and robust budget, but also a transparent and performance-based budget. If you look at the GAA, and it is available online, it has detailed disclosure of agencies’ performance targets. Also, we have disaggregated the lump sum amounts in the agency budgets into component projects, intended beneficiaries and location in order for the GAA to function as a budget release document,” said Abad.
“The Aquino administration, under a solid platform of good and effective governance, has been able to craft a national budget that reflects transparency and accountability in public financial management,” added Abad.