House endorses budget, gov’t pay hike bill

The House appropriations committee has voted to endorse the proposed P1-trillion 2006 national budget and a P13-billion special appropriations bill that would fund the eight-percent increase in the monthly allowance of government personnel.

In a meeting on Monday night, the committee chaired by Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. decided to scrap budget hearings scheduled for this week and to endorse the measure so as not to further delay its approval.

Meanwhile, the government is increasing its budget for government employees opting for voluntary retirement this year to P10 billion from P6 billion in 2005.

Budget Secretary Romulo Neri disclosed that in the 2006 national budget, the government decided to raise the allocation for retiring employees under the rationalization and streamlining program that seeks to trim the bloated bureaucracy.

"The rationalization program is still being implemented gradually and, so far, will only affect the smaller agencies. We do not want to rush this because there is that risk of losing good people," said Neri.

The hearings that were canceled included those on the budgets of the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation and Communications, and Department of Education.

These agencies are sources of additional pork barrel funds for lawmakers. Congressmen’s parochial concerns usually delay or even stall the approval of the budget proposals of these departments.

Andaya said his committee would now write its report.

He said the 2006 outlay, as proposed by President Arroyo, would largely be kept intact except for minor realignments.

The "order of recipients" will not change, with the education department getting the biggest slice of P119 billion, he said.

The other departments with huge outlays are public works, P62.3 billion; defense, P46.6 billion; interior and local government, P45.6 billion; agriculture, P15.6 billion; land reform, P15.1 billion; transportation and communications, P14.3 billion; health, P10.6 billion; judiciary, P8.5 billion; finance, P6.9 billion; environment and natural resources, P6.3 billion; and foreign affairs, P5.1 billion.

The Senate has blamed the House for the delay in the enactment of the 2006 budget.

As for the special appropriations bill, Andaya said the House, in plenary session, is expected to approve it today.

"The bill will be transmitted to the Senate before the end of the week, or Monday, at the latest. After that, the ball will be in their court. The House is making good on its vow to rush its passage," he said.

Andaya authored the special appropriations measure, which the President certified as urgent on Monday.

According to groups representing government workers, the eight percent increase in allowance is equivalent to about P500 a month.

They said what state personnel need is a salary increase of at least 10 percent, not an allowance adjustment.

The Philippine Government Employees Association however welcomed the special appropriations bill. PGEA national president Esperanza Ocampo commended Andaya’s empathy with the plight of government employees whose salaries remained stagnant for the past years.

The last time pay scales in the bureaucracy were adjusted was in 1994, when Andaya’s father, the late Rolando Andaya Sr., was appropriations committee chairman and then Quezon City Rep. (now mayor) Feliciano Belmonte Jr. was committee vice chairman.

Andaya Sr. and Belmonte doubled the lowest pay in government from P2,000 to P4,000 and increased the basic monthly salary of public school teachers from about P3,000 to P8,605. Additionally, they gave state workers a uniform P500 personnel economic relief allowance. — With Rocel Felix