MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang clarified yesterday that the employees of the 10 abolished agencies under the Office of the President have known beforehand that their terms are coterminous with their offices and not permanent.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told state-run radio dzRB (Radyo ng Bayan) that agencies created by virtue of locally funded projects (LFPs) are known to have a definite lifespan and this does not pose a problem to the employees of the concerned offices.
“My understanding is that (they are) coterminous (with their offices)... although I don’t have an idea (how many are the) affected personnel,” Valte said.
If the project is finished then so too are their services, Valte said, adding that this was the nature of the LFPs although workers may still be hired by other agencies.
President Aquino abolished last week eight more line agencies, aside from the previous two – the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group and the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission that are under the Office of the President that were deemed redundant.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said the elimination of the 10 LFPs could result in savings to the tune of P304.6 million, as these were merely “found to duplicate the functions of other line agencies or departments.”
“Our philosophy is to streamline the operations of the Office of the President so we can cut unnecessary spending and use our resources where they are needed most,” Ochoa said.
Among the agencies under the Office of the President that were scrapped are the Mindanao Development Council, Office of the North Luzon Quadrangle Area, Office of External Affairs, Minerals Development Council.
The Luzon Urban Beltway Super Region, Bicol River Basin Watershed Management Project, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change, and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on New Government Centers.
All these agencies, along with PASG and PAGC, have not been included in next year’s P1.645-trillion national budget. Mr. Aquino had made true his promise to abolish agencies that only tend to duplicate other offices.
Ochoa said the maintenance, operations and other expenses of the Office of the President had been pegged at P2.6 billion for 2010, which was approved by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo but Mr. Aquino decided to reduce the budget to P2.4 billion next year.
The budget for personal services has also been slashed from P1.58 billion this year to P1.57 billion in 2011.
Funds for professional services or consultancies, for example, have also been cut by P152.7 million, from P390.8 million in 2010 to P238.1 million next year.
“The President wants to lead by example. He cannot ask other agencies to cut costs if his own office is not prudent in the use of the people’s money,” Ochoa said.
The Office of the President itself is also cutting back its proposed budget for 2011 by 4.3 percent to P4.075 billion, in line with the President’s efforts to streamline the operations of the executive department.
Ochoa presented the Office of the President’s expenditure plan for the next fiscal year at a budget hearing in the House of Representatives, which is P183.9 million less than the appropriation received by Mr. Aquino’s predecessor, now Pampanga Rep. Arroyo.