The Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures (JCOCPE) should convene and scrutinize the government’s use of funds appropriated for Yolanda rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, as well as the government’s use of savings and unprogrammed funds, a lawmaker said on Tuesday.
Rep. Terry Ridon of Kabataan Party-list made the statement following reports of the slow release of funds for Yolanda rehabilitation, as affirmed by former presidential adviser on rehabilitation and recovery Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr.
Ridon said that the JCOCPE should particularly look into how the P88.96 billion already released for Yolanda rehabilitation has been utilized and review the sources of the said funds.
“It’s not only Lacson who’s sounding the alarm. Even the United Nations (UN), through the UN special rapporteur Chaloka Beyani, has taken notice of the snail-paced rebuilding and rehabilitation efforts in Yolanda-stricken areas. There is an immediate need for Congress to review how the Department of Budget and Management [DBM] and our national government agencies are handling the rehabilitation funds,” Ridon said.
Section 99 of the 2015 General Appropriations Act created the JCOCPE to “monitor compliance by agencies with the requirements and/or conditions under pertinent laws in the utilization of public funds.” The JCOCPE is composed of seven members each from the Senate and the House, respectively, with one seat allotted for the minority group in each chamber.
DBM earlier said that unprogrammed funds were tapped to fund various housing initiatives under the Yolanda rehabilitation program since there were excess revenue collections certified by the Bureau of Treasury.
Ridon said that the practice of tapping unprogrammed funds has already been questioned by the Supreme Court in light of the Disbursement Acceleration Program controversy.
“Even before we start deliberating the additional P18.89 billion funding request for Yolanda rehabilitation and reconstruction contained in the 2016 proposed budget, a thorough assessment should be done. We need to ask: What are the causes of the rehabilitation and reconstruction bottlenecks? Is the government following public finance laws and regulations strictly with regard to Yolanda funds?” Ridon added.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker also asked the committee to review the Aquino administration’s use of overall savings for fiscal year 2014.
DBM has transferred a total of P7.3 billion from overall savings to augment the budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, the Contingency Fund, and the budget of the People’s Television Network, according to Ridon.