EDITORIAL — Heavy workload

With the proposed P1.053-trillion national budget for 2006 in limbo, President Arroyo is seeking a supplemental budget of P40 billion. At the same time, Malacañang has submitted to Congress the budget proposal for 2007 amounting to P1.138 trillion. The proposed General Appropriations Act for this year is stuck in the bicameral conference committee, with senators insisting on a substantial cut. Of the P40-billion proposed supplemental budget, P15 billion is meant as the revenue share of local government units while P2 billion is for poll modernization. The proposed 2007 GAA, meanwhile, aims to increase allotments for education and vital infrastructure.

With national budgeting as messy as this, it’s not surprising that the delivery of services is also a big mess. Sure, the government can continue functioning on a re-enacted budget. But budget proposals generally increase each year as inflation is factored in and the population that needs basic services continues to grow. Failure to get sufficient funding can certainly throw askew plans and programs. Hiring of additional personnel such as teachers and plans for pay increases must be put on hold.

Government agencies expend a lot of time and effort drawing up detailed budget proposals and planning their spending for the year. Why go to all that trouble if the government will simply keep re-enacting the national budget? Grand announcements about cutting the congressional pork barrel are also reduced to empty rhetoric when the proposed cuts are never passed into law.

Battles over pork barrel allocations — among congressmen, among senators, between the two chambers of Congress, between Malacañang and Congress — have often held back the passage of the national budget. With mid-term elections approaching, the "pork" battles are likely to become tougher. Can Congress pass the proposed budget for 2007 by the end of this year? With three overlapping budget proposals, the workload may be too heavy for lawmakers.

And the administration says the budget will be balanced by 2008.