P4.2-B budget for DA grassroots projects questioned

MANILA, Philippines - Anakpawis party-list Rep. Fernando Hicap questioned yesterday the Grassroots Participatory Budget (GPB) projects under the Department of Agriculture (DA) amounting to P4.282 billion for 2015, saying at least half of the fund had been allocated to projects not clearly defined.

Hicap raised the matter during deliberations at the House of Representatives on the proposed budget for the DA for next year.

He said of that budget, P2.18 billion have no details and are listed only as “various projects” in the National Expenditure Program volume of the proposed P2.606-trillion national budget for 2015.

He said the projects without specific details are as follows: various agricultural programs (P320.2 million); various DA projects (P1.637 billion); various Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources projects (P37.6 million); and various National Irrigation Administration projects (P4 million).

Aside from the actual projects, the DA is asking for a P113.31-million budget for GPB monitoring and evaluation activities.

“The proposed budget for these projects is not minimal. We are talking about billions worth of projects, without details. Apparently, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala cannot explain the details of these ‘various projects’ to the Committee on Appropriations when questioned by legislators,” Hicap said.

“We strongly recommend the striking out of these questionable projects and budget proposals for GPB under the DA,” he said.

“How can GPB be a new level of transparent and accountable governance if the agency that proposed GPB projects cannot explain its details,” he added.

Lawmakers from the independent bloc, led by Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, earlier questioned the GPB as another form of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Under the GPB process, selected local government units (LGUs) are asked to come up with a wish list of P15 million worth of projects they want funded by the national government, through consultations with non-government organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations, lawmakers said.

The GPB, they said, allows LGUs to cancel and replace certain programs and projects, a characteristic similar to that of DAP.

Hicap said if lawmakers would not thoroughly scrutinize the details of these proposed programs and budgetary allocations, they can be easily corrupted or be declared as savings by the Department of Budget and Management and the DA.