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Willard Cheng

ABS-CBN News

ACT Teachers party list Rep. France Castro wants clarity on how the contingent fund will be used under the 2025 budget for which P13 billion will be allotted.The contingent fund, as defined by the Department of Budget and Management “shall be used exclusively for requirements of new and/or urgent projects and activities that need to be implemented during the year, except for the provision of confidential and intelligence funds to civilian departments and agencies with no mandate to perform security and intelligence-related functions unless the President certifies as to the extreme necessity thereof.”Castro during the House plenary budget debates wanted a definition of “extreme necessity.”House committee on appropriations senior vice chair and DBM budget sponsor Rep. Stella Quimbo said the agency is contemplating of war or a pandemic as extreme examples. She conceded clarity is needed to illustrate extreme necessity and invited Castro to suggest examples.Castro stressed the contingent fund should never be used again as a source for confidential funds. The Office of the Vice President was one of the agencies that were recipients of the 2022 contingent fund.<div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/09/12/23/explainer-what-are-contingent-funds" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EXPLAINER: What is the Contingent Fund and who has accessed it?</a></div>“Sa ngayon po ang na contemplate ng DBM ay halimbawa po giyera o halimbawa po pandemic ganoon po, ganoon po ka-extreme,” Quimbo said.“Madam Speaker, gusto ko lang iwasan siguro yung naging problema natin noong 2022. Malinaw kung saan talaga dapat dalhin ang contingent fund diba? Of course yung war, pandemic extreme necessities yan… Ano pa po ba ang iniisip na mangyayari?” Castro said.Quimbo said, “Madam Speaker, your honor, tama po yung concern na nire-raise niyo na mukhang may lack of clarity kapag sinasabi lang natin extreme necessity thereof. Kaya siguro maganda na, dagdagan, lagyan ng illustration, magandang lagyan ng such as war. At kung meron kayong maimumungkahi na pwedeng idagdag dito para mas maging kongkreto ang ibig sabihin ng letter a dito ay ikatutuwa po ng komite kung kayo po ay nakakapag-submit.”“And I will,” Castro said, “Para mas malinaw. Never na dapat gamitin sa contingent fund yung confidential and intelligence funds at anuman ang hindi talaga dapat necessary.” Castro asked why big amounts continue to be allotted as contingent fund given the history of low utilization. As of August, there is currently a balance of P15.995 billion in contingent fund with continuing appropriations from the previous budget. Quimbo said the contingent fund is tapped as standby fund for such instances as the creation of new offices and can be tapped to fund the Negros Region, for example, if there is no implementing rules and regulation yet creating the region by the time the budget is passed.Castro also expressed disagreement with the practice of putting items earlier classified during committee budget hearings as regular appropriation to unprogrammed appropriations at the time of the bicameral conference. She cited as an example the salary increase for government workers that was later classified as an unprogrammed appropriation in the last appropriations act. “Hindi katanggap tanggap kasi ang daming ibinaba… na tingin ko naman doable kasi meron na silang tiyak na budget,” Castro said.Quimbo said the study on the proposed increase in salary was not yet finished at that time and was hence moved as an unprogrammed item.Subsidy for housing beneficiaries, she added, were also classified as such since housing buildings had first to be finished and that beneficiaries should have moved to their new houses to be eligible for the grant. Social pension for indigent senior citizens, she said, was a “problematic item” since it needed further validation on who could be covered.“Wala kayong karapatan na baguhin yung mga pinag usapan natin dito sa House na natapos na natin pero pagdating pala doon (bicam), last day na lang, malalaman na lang namin ganito ang mangyayari pero dapat sana hindi na mangyari yan at di pinapayagan yan ng DBM… lalo na yung mahahalagang pagkakagastusan para sa ating mahihirap na mamamayan,” Castro said.Quimbo vowed to continue to improve the special provisions, pointing out that  personnel benefits and social services have been prioritized as a result of these reminders.“As we know nagiging problema kapag sobrang talaga ng unprogrammed appropriations. Huwag kayo mag alala, sasamahan ko po kayo sa pagbantay nitong unprogrammed appropriations,” Quimbo said.Meanwhile, asked by Castro, Quimbo said the DBM is studying the possibility of increasing the Personnel Economic Relief Allowance (PERA) starting in 2026 with a possible P500 yearly increase in the monthly allowance of government personnel stationed in the Philippines. PERA is aimed at supplementing government salaries due to rising cost of living. Pegged at P2,000 since 2009, it is seen to increase to P2,500 by 2026, P3,000 by 2027, and P3,500 by 2028. “Mahalaga itong PERA dahil ito kumbaga ang panangga natin doon sa inflation at iba iba pang economic factors that would lessen the purchasing power of their salary or peso. Gusto natin maitaas ang PERA kasi hindi naman talaga masaya yung Executive Order number 64 na additional salary sa ating mga government employees,” Castro said. “Yun ang pinag aaralan nila kung kakayanin natin dahil malaki laki po ang kakailanganing pondo. Ang requirement po is 11.143 billion annually… para sa 1.358 million civilian personnel including NUP,” Quimbo said, adding it is also being studied to make it non-taxable.Quimbo meanwhile assured Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas items tagged as climate change expenditures are not lump sum appropriations, saying these are line items and were merely tagged as such to allow government to monitor climate related projects.

ACT Teachers party list Rep. France Castro wants clarity on how the contingent fund will be used under the 2025 budget for which P13 billion will be allotted.

ACT Teachers party list Rep. France Castro wants clarity on how the contingent fund will be used under the 2025 budget for which P13 billion will be allotted.

Lawmaker seeks clarity on contingent fund

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Lawmaker seeks clarity on contingent fund

Willard Cheng,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 17, 2024 01:43 AM PHT

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contingent fund

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France Castro

Stella Quimbo

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