February 12, 2010
FORMER national treasure Leonor Magtolis Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines and a Congressional candidate under party-list Kaakbay, called on Congressmen and Senators to fully exercise their power of the purse over the 2010 national budget by supporting monitoring of public funds by civil society groups.
“The work of Congress and Senate does not stop on passing the budget. President Gloria Arroyo has approved the P1.54 trillion budget for 2010; and it is within times of economic crises and national elections. This means more work of Senators and Congressmen to ensure that the budget are actually released to the most vulnerable sectors of society,” Briones said. “This is a crucial fiscal year as diversion of public funds is rampant during election period,” she added.
Briones explained that fair and transparent monitoring of the budget can only be done by a third party that is impartial and not dominated by political considerations. “This refers to civil society groups who have been tracking the release and utilization of the budget from the national government down the communities,” Briones said.
She warned that there is no third-party monitoring in the Philippines. “The Philippine budget system is based on a decree by the dictatorial regime of President Ferdinand Marcos. The constitution mandates the President to veto specific items in the budget bill created by the Senate and House of Representatives . On the implementation of the approved budget, the President can transfer items as deemed necessary,” Briones explained.
“This kind of system, which has no check and balance, breeds corruption, monopoly and tax evasion and hampers the government’s efforts to attain pro-poor targets,” she added.
Briones leads over a hundred citizens’ organizations on a campaign for increased spending for social services through the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI). Through ABI, civil society and legislators work together in formulating and lobbing for alternative budget proposals for increased allocation for education, health, agriculture and the environment.
“The ABI was successful in pushing Congress to form a Joint Legislative Oversight on the Budget with citizens’ participation because there is a need for Senators and Congressmen to rigorously monitor the release and utilization of public funds. Yet, both Houses still need to operationalize the Budget Oversight Committee and to include civil society groups during budget oversight,” she said.
“Civil society and legislators should work together to finally institutionalize third party monitoring in the country because poverty alleviation rests upon how the national budget is crafted and implemented,” Briones said.
Briones, is globally acclaimed for leading sectoral groups on pioneering campaigns for transparency, accountability and people’s participation in the budget process. She is the Philippine ambassador to the W8 which is a group of women leaders talking to heads of the richest countries to live up to their promises to help poor nations finance social development programs.
She was also chosen by Kaakbay Partylist as one of their candidates because of her longstanding dedication and leadership role in efforts to achieve the country’s commitment to end the worst forms of human deprivation through the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) such as the eradication of extreme poverty, achieving quality education, realizing universal healthcare services and ensuring environmental sustainability.
Social Watch Philippines 