DBM questioned at House hearing on lump-sum billions in 2017 budget billSecretary Benjamin Diokno of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) admitted yesterday that there are lump-sum funds in the proposed national budget for 2017, but assured that they will be used for the salary increases of military and police personnel and for the construction of 47,000 new school buildings. Kabataan partylist Rep. Sarah Elago grilled Diokno over a lump-sum P1.4 trillion listed as Special Purpose Funds (SPFs), which appeared to be discretionary in nature. So we have to ask why a third of the budget now belongs to such funds,” Elago said. She also noted the presence of “DAP-like provisions” in the proposed 2017 national budget, particularly Sections 55-59 of the General Provisions of the 2017 budget act. “The fine print of the the P3.35-trillion national budget proposal reveals that the provisions on savings and augmentation that were first inserted in the 2015 General Appropriations Act have all been carried over to the 2017 budget proposal.

Source: Manila Bulletin August 22, 2016 16:07 UTC