MANILA, Philippines – Sinabi ni dating Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary Manuel Bonoan na ang Senate leadership fund ay nabuo matapos ihayag ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ang pagkabahala sa lawak ng congressional insertions sa national budget.
Sa affidavit na ipinasa ni Bonoan sa Sandiganbayan Third Division, sinabi nito na ang problema ay nagsimula noong 2023 nang ang budget sa foreign-assisted projects ng DPWH ay binawasan ng hanggang 88.8%, at ang deductions ay na-convert sa inserted projects sa General Appropriations Act.
“There were very significant reductions in the original proposed allocations for Foreign-Assisted projects; from ₱70.71 billion to ₱7.938 billion or 88% reduction. All the amounts deducted from the original FY 2023 budget, plus the additional budget allocations in the 2023 GAA totaling PhP 292.715 billion were converted into a total of 8,075 new ‘inserted projects’ in the GAA shared by both Houses of Congress…,” sinabi ni Bonoan.
Sinabi na umano ni Bonoan ang isyung ito sa Pangulo at sinabing siya ay naalarma at ipinag-utos sa kanya na ang state resources ay dapat na maipamahagi sa mga deserving na rehiyon lalo na sa top 20 poorest provinces.
“I reported it to the President. The President was alarmed in the reduction of the budgets… it will derail the implementation of the socio-economic agenda, particularly the infrastructure program of the administration,” sinabi pa ni Bonoan.
Ang kautusan ay ibinigay ng Pangulo sa kanya sa isang Cabinet meeting.
“The President’s instruction was relayed by the President himself. If I’m not mistaken, in the first Cabinet meeting where he emphasized that support to regional development must be continued through equitable allocation of resources, especially the regions that have been left behind,” dagdag pa.
Samantala, sinabi ni Bonoan na ang “Senate Leadership Fund” ay layong i-accommodate ang priority projects ng mga senador sa National Expenditure Program ng ahensya.
“We nevertheless thought of an innovative way to address the likely situation of ‘budgetary cuts’ in the succeeding years of the Marcos Administration to already accommodate and incorporate the priority projects of members of the Senate in the succeeding proposed budgets of the DPWH through what we internally coined as ‘Senate Leadership Fund,'” pagpapatuloy ni Bonoan.
“I recommended that we can allot a certain amount for their priority projects which should be consistent with the core program of the DPWH, then it can deter the legislators from deducting, adjusting, or amending the budgets allocated for the various proposed programs or projects of the DPWH.”
Alam umano ng economic cluster ng administrasyon ang patungkol sa Senate Leadership Fund.
“This initiative was in principle acknowledged by members of the Cabinet Economic Team that started in the preparation of the proposed FY 2024 DPWH Budget with internal allocated limit of PhP24 billion,” aniya.
Ani Bonoan, ang pondo bilang ad hoc ay walang eksaktong halaga sa bawat senador at nakadepende sa diskresyon ng Senate President.
Mayroong minimum na P500 milyon sa bawat senador habang ang Senate president at chairperson ng major committees ay mayroong tig-P1 bilyong alokasyon.
Noong 2024, ani Bonoan, ang Senado ay nakapag-avail ng P13.29 bilyon at nasa P21 bilyon noong 2025.
“For FY 2024, I met with then Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and informed him about the leadership fund and the guidelines. Based on the record furnished to me, the availment of the Senate leadership fund amounted to PhP 13.29 billion for FY 2024. Similarly, for FY 2025, I met with the Senate President Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero. From the records of the DPWH, the availment of the Senate leadership funds for FY 2025 is more or less PhP21 billion,” sinabi ni Bonoan. RNT/JGC
