Aquino: No to reduced power over discretionary funds

MANILA, Philippines – When he was a senator, President Benigno Aquino III filed a bill pushing for reduced discretion on the part of the president over state funds.

He has since changed his mind.

On Wednesday, October 9, Aquino told reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Brunei that he doesn’t see a justification for the move at the moment.

“I haven’t heard any accusation against me of misusing my discretionary powers. Why would we justify that right now?,” he said, adding this could be be better done “sometime in the future.”

Aquino filed the bill during the Arroyo administration, because presidential power over funds had been “used and misused,” he said in his explanatory note then.

He admitted on Wednesday the move would be good in decreasing temptation in the future but said this is now a “simplistic” look at the issue.

Aquino argued discretionary funds are necessary for emergency situations such as  typhoons and the Zamboanga crisis, and said having to ask Congress to facilitate releases would be more complicated.

“Ok let’s remove the discretionary fund [for a typhoon],” he said. “So if I need it, the only recourse is to go back to Congress and ask for this. And what do they actually ask for? Our NDRRMC (Natural Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Council) teams will audit… the Congress will ask for an estimate. Someone might say, ‘you can’t withdraw the full amount until its liquidated. So that would be a better system?”

He explained that the calamity fund as it stands requires recommendation from the NDRRMC before the approval of the President anyway, “so these aren’t all solely discretionary, they need recommendation,” he said. 

Imperfect system

Ironically, the bill Aquino filed in 2009 sought to “increase congressional oversight and to limit executive influence over specific appropriations in the General Appropriations Act.”

Now president, Aquino said taking away his power over discretionary funds would not solve the problem.

“I mean, you name anything. A ball pen can be good or it can be bad in the hands of somebody who’s deranged. Then make sure that the ball pen can’t be used for a bad purpose. Redesign the ball pen so it isn’t sharp. So like anything made, [the system is] imperfect, but we have been correcting [it],” he said.

Government spending has been scrutinized in recent months after exposes on misuse of government funds. READ: Plunder complaint vs Estrada, Enrile, Revilla 

Controversies over the pork barrel released to lawmakers, the Malampaya fund and the government’s spending of realigned savings through the Disbursement Acceleration Program have spurred discussions over the use of government money and the power of lawmakers and the executive over it. – Rappler.com