Rehab czar with no funds?

MANILA, Philippines - Rehab czar and former Sen. Panfilo Lacson will not be able to tap into the P143.5-billion rehabilitation and reconstruction fund, which is made available for the executive department by Congress to resurrect the areas affected by recent calamities.

As far as Congress is concerned, Senate Finance committee chairman Sen. Francis Escudero said the approved P12-billion to be added to the pooled funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction in disaster-affected areas will be provided for the use “implementing agencies.”

“I don’t know what the mandate of Sen. Lacson would be and I don’t know what role he will play but the budget we passed is through the implementing agencies. These are the line departments,” Escudero said.

“Senator Lacson or the office that will be created is not an implementing agency. [His role is] coordinative, so it’s the agencies who will use these funds, bid it out or implemented themselves,” Escudero explained.

Congress passed on Tuesday night a joint resolution seeking to extend by one year or until Dec. 31, 2014 the validity of the unobligated and unreleased funds under the 2013 budget.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad has informed that the amount translates to P12 billion, on top of the P 14.5-billion sourced from the congressional pork barrel that was also tapped for calamity use, Escudero added.

This will bring to P143.5-billion the funds for rehab and reconstruction made available for the President next year.

The Senate’s version of the 2014 budget would allow President Aquino to tap P100 billion for rehabilitation projects, and P20-billion of which will come from programmed funds and the P80 billion under unprogrammed funds.

Escudero said he is not privy to the details of the executive order, which will empower Lacson to become the rehab czar.

As far as Escudero is concerned, President Aquino may delegate his power over the calamity and rehabilitation funds to the agencies.

“He can, there’s no prohibition. These funds are QRF (Quick Response Fund), that is delegated to a secretary. The calamity fund, it’s the President but once he realigns it to fund the QRF of an agency, that is delegated to the agencies,” he explained.

Escudero, however, welcomed Lacson’s appointment, saying that “the President needs all the help he can get.”

“The problem is so big and Senator Lacson can greatly help in whatever capacity,” he said.

'PNoy can augment calamity fund'

Senate President Franklin Drilon explained that the joint resolution allows President Aquino to augment the calamity fund from the unutilized items in the 2013 budget, principally on the maintenance and operations portions.

Asked if the President can delegate the power to realign funds through a rehab czar, Drilon expressed view that only the chief executive and heads of Constitutional bodies can exercise the power.

“My view is that the Constitution says the President and heads of the Constitutional bodies… it must be exercised by the President as a matter of more conservative approach so that it cannot be questioned,” Drilon said.

“In other words, I take a conservative position, the President cannot delegate the power to realign items in the budget. The President cannot delegate the power to augment an item in the budget because that is the power lodged in the President as an elected official,” the Senate president added.