Press Release
October 30, 2008

ROXAS TO SCRUTINIZE P23.69-B AGRI LUMP-SUMS IN 2009 BUDGET

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas said today that he would take the lead in scrutinizing P23.69 billion in lump sum allocations for the government's Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan (AFMP), in the wake of the return from the United States of former DA Usec. Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante, who has yet to be charged by the Office of the Ombudsman for his part in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

"Sana naman ay natuto na tayo sa kaguluhang ginawa ni Joc-Joc, na hindi pwedeng basta-basta ang pagbigay ng budget sa mga ahensya. Sa bawat item sa budget ay dapat may paliwanag kung paano ito gagastusin, at kung ito nga ba ay prayoridad natin (I hope that we have learned after the mess that Joc-Joc made, that we can't just provide budgets for agencies. For each item in the budget, there has to be an explanation as to how this will be used, and if this is a priority of ours)," he said.

"Hinding-hindi mauulit itong fertilizer fund scam. Susubaybayan natin ang bawat galaw ng ehekutibo upang siguraduhin na mapapakinabangan ng ating kababayan ang binabayad nilang buwis (A fertilizer fund scam won't happen again. We will watch every move of the executive to make sure that our people benefit from the taxes they pay)," he added.

Roxas noted how 16% or P225.6 billion of the P1.4-trillion budget for 2009 consists of one-liner items over P100 million, and said there was a need to find out which items are backed by specific programs and the ones which are merely discretionary.

Of the P225.6 billion in lump-sum allocations over P100 million, P23.69 billion are for the AFMP, as follows:

1. P9,438,862,000 - GMA Rice program; 2. P6,000,000,000 - Restoration/rehabilitation of irrigation systems; 3. P3,650,000,000 - Repair/rehabilitation and construction of farm-to-market roads; 4. P2,154,011,000 - GMA High Value Commercial Crops program; 5. P1,373,461,000 - Requirements of Program Beneficiaries Development Component of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program; and 6. P1,075,929,000 - GMA Fisheries program

"Halos P25 bilyon ang mga lump-sum na pondo para sa Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan. Alam naman nating lahat na ang mga malalaking lump sum kagaya nito ay nagbubunga ng mga scam (There's almost P25 billion in lump-sum funds for the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan. We all know that these big lump sums are the root of scams)," he said.

"Sa panahon ngayon, kung saan maaasahan natin na mas lalong maghihirap ang mga taong bayan dahil sa krisis, kailangan nating bigyang halaga na makakakain ang lahat. Kaya dapat prayoridad ang maayos na pag-implementa sa mga programang pang-agrikultura (At times like these, when we can expect that our people are in for hard times because of the crisis, we have to prioritize that people are able to eat. This is why it is important that our agriculture programs are properly implemented)," he added.

Roxas has called for a realignment of P100 billion in items in the budget to focus on several priorities to help the country cope with the effects of the worldwide financial crisis, namely: food security, job security, and health and education services.

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