BUTCH ABAD MUST ACCOUNT FOR P302 BILLION!

Budget Sec. Butch Abad must account for more than P302 BILLION in shares of local government units (LGU) from the national tax collections which were NOT AUTOMATICALLY RELEASED by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in 2013, which happened to be an election year. Those funds were FOR US, for the delivery of basic services to us by our local officials.

Abad and the DBM must IMMEDIATELY come out with details and documents of the following: WHEREABOUTS of the money;   HOW MUCH has been released and how much is left, if any, and NAMES of recipients and BREAKDOWN of how much did each one receive. Most of all, Abad had better have proof that the money WAS NOT USED for election purposes for any candidate.

A story in abs-cbnnews.com said according to the Commission on Audit (COA), the non-automatic release of P302,806,286,459 in internal revenue shares of LGUs violated Section 6, Article X, General Provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Sen, Miriam Defensor Santiago added that Section 286 of the Local Government Code provides that “the share of each local government unit shall be released, without need of any further action, directly to the provincial, city, municipal or barangay treasurer, as the case may be, on a quarterly basis within five days after the end of each quarter, and which shall not be subject to any lien or holdback that may be imposed by the national government for whatever purpose.”

The DBM countered that its administration and release of the LGUs’ share in the national taxes is anchored in Section 10 (2), Chapter 4, Title XVII of Executive Order No. 292, which provides that “The maintenance of the DBM Fund 103 for release to LGUs is necessary to segregate the funds intended to LGUs with that of the funds for its regular operations.” The DBM also cited Presidential Decree No. 1445, which says: “No money shall be paid out of any public treasury or depository except in the pursuance of an appropriation law.” But the COA said there is no legal provision allowing the DBM to administer the LGUs’ share in the national taxes., and that the Constitution clearly says the shares shall be automatically appropriated for and released to the LGUs.

.

Regardless of the legal technicalities, P302 billion of the people’s money was WITHHELD UNDER QUESTIONABLE CIRCUMSTANCES. We have ALL THE RIGHT TO FIND OUT WHERE IS THIS, IMMEDIATELY. 30