Underspending dragging GDP?

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon today expressed concern about the country’s ability to meet its target economic growth this year, which he said is being dragged down by what continues to be an “alarming” trend of government underspending. 

  

The Senate leader’s statement came after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Thursday reported the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2015 at 5.6%, which is way below the 6.4% it registered in the same period last year.

Drilon asked the country’s economic managers if the target GDP of 7% to 8% is still within reach, “when our present economic performance indicates otherwise?”

While he wishes to be as optimistic as the country’s economic managers, Drilon said that it is becoming more apparent now that the full year target of 7%-8% GDP is a “pipe dream.”

“The higher GDP target is ideal, but at the rate things are going it would be unattainable. It would mean the economy has to grow by at least 8.7% in the remaining quarters in order to achieve the minimum growth rate target of 7%, which is impossible to achieve,” said Drilon.

He noted that even Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director-General Arsenio M. Balisacan had earlier said that “the higher end of the 2015 goal would be difficult to achieve.”

“I am therefore asking our Cabinet members who lead the government’s economic cluster to conduct a serious re-assessment of our current standing, including a realistic description of what the country could and could not achieve for this year. Only then can we move forward and come up with the necessary solution,” Drilon said.

He pointed to government underspending as one of the key areas which require “immediate action,” citing that government spending represents nearly 20% of the Philippine’s annual GDP.  

“The 3.9% increase in government consumption in this quarter is a welcome development, but it is obvious much more needs to be done in terms of fixing issues on spending such as bureaucratic bottlenecks, especially in the public infrastructure sector,” Drilon said. – END

Transcript of Bombo Radyo Interview with Senate President Franklin M. Drilon by Jun Desca

Q: Sir makikibalita lang po kami sa mga mahahalagang balita sa Senado ngayong linggo, lalo na sa mga panukalang batas na tinututukan ngayon ng Senado.

SPFMD: Bago iyan ay narinig ko yung reporter niyo sa House ang problema doon sa quorum.

Q: Parang napansin din po ata iyan ng Minority sa Senado kahapon.

SPFMD: Wala naman kaming problema sa pag roll call. Araw-araw nagro-roll call kami. Mayroon namang sapat na mayorya. Of course, kapag humahaba na ang mga debate sa mga batas, ay yung iba ay may appointment at umaalis.

Ngunit two days ago, nung pagpasok ni Senator Enrile, ni-remind niya ang aming mga kasamahan na kailangan nandoon tayo lalo kapag importanteng panukalang batas ang pinagdedebatehan. At sinabi niya bilang opposition, nasa kapangyarihan po nila na question-in ang quorum.

Ako po ay nagpasalamat kay Senator Enrile na kanyang niremind ang aming mga kasamahan kapag may importanteng debate na nandoon tayo sa session the whole time. Pero in terms of quorum po, ay wala kaming masyadong problema.

Ngayon sa tanong mo, ay sa Senado po ay patuloy po ang aming debate tungkol dun sa Bangsamoro Basic Law. Pinagusapan yung taxation powers at ang block grant na tinatawag natin, na binu-budget po para sa Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, yung mga kapangyarihan ng Bangsamoro Juridical Entity – yung pamahalaan doon, yung regional government, yaan po ay inisa-isa.

Kahapon pinagusapan din namin yung mga tratado para sa  mga tax treaty sa Turkey at sa Germany, para po sa maayos natin  yung mga problema natin ukol sa pagbubuwis sa ating mga kababayan na nabubuhay sa ibang bansa.

Q:  Yung national budget po ba on track tayo? Hindi po ba iyan naapektuhan nung mga debate sa iba pang mahahalagang batas na tinututukan ng Senado?

SPFMD: Hindi naman. Yaan po ay nasa komite, sa katunayan po ay sa susunod na linggo ay ang nakasalang sa ating budget hearing ay ang budget ng Department of Public Works and Highways, na may P394.5 billion na alokasyon sa DPWH. Alam mo importante po ito dahil malaking kritisismo sa ating bansa ay ang kakulangan sa imprastraktura, at kakulangan ng mga kalsada. Kaya po mayroong sa susunod na taon, 13 porsyento ng kabuuang budget ng bansa sa 2016 ay mapupunta sa DPWH. Ito ay isa sa pinakamataas na budget sa DPWH. May pagtaas ito ng 27 porsyento ang budget ng DPWH kung ihahambing at titingnan natin ang budget nito ngayong taon. 

Q: Itong usapin na pinatitigil na ni Pangulong Aquino ang pagbubukas ng mga balikbayan boxes ng OFWs, may mga hindi po kuntento sa naging aksyon ng Pnagulo. Diyan sa Senado, may concern po ba sa umiiral na polisiya ngayon ng Bureau of Customs?

SPFMD: Maraming resolusyon na finifile sa Senado na ibig maimbestiga kung bakit ganito ang polisiya ng Bureau of Customs sa balikbayan boxes. Yung pong aming pinaguusapan na Customs and Tariff Modernization Act, ito po ay inisponsor na ni Senator Sonny Angara, isa po sa mga probisyon niyan ay yung mga tinatawag na maliliit na customs, tariff and duties o ang tawag sa batas ay “de minimis.”

Ibig sabihin niyan it’s no longer worth it to try  and collect kung mas malaki pa ang magagastos mo to collect these amounts sa mga balikbayan – ayan po ay titingnan namin kung at what level dapat huwag na buwisan ang mga balikbayan boxes.

Pangalawa, nagbibigay din iyan ng pondo for the Customs modernization, para hindi na po manual, dahilan sa maraming magbubukas ay talagang may corruption at mabagal kaya dapat may sapat na pondo para sa mas maraming X-Ray scanner.

Ito po ang aming tulong na magagawa, para sa permanenteng solusyon. Ako po hindi ako sangayon sa Bureau of Customs na policy na bubuksan ang balikbayan boxes. There must be other ways na maaring mahuli ang mga ini-ismuggle diyan. Ang dapat tingnan, yung mga big-time smugglers, huwag yung mga balikbayan boxes na bubuksan pa po.  Sa akin po, hindi po ako pabor sa polisiya ng BOC diyan sa balikbayan boxes.  

          

Q: Sir mamaya po ay magbubukas ulit yung Senate Blue Ribbbon Subcommitttee sa imbestigasyon sa Makati – mahigit sa isang taon na po ang imbestigasyon – kayo po ba ay may komunikasyon sa liderato ng Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee kung kelan matatapos ito, at ano pa ba ang kailangan nilang impormasyon – o hahayaan na lang, dahil sabi nila may bago daw silang impormasyon?

Pangalawang tanong po, kahapon po ay may pinapaaresto po silang panibagong yung sinasabing hindi dumadalo sa pagdinig. Yaan po ba ay dumaan na sa inyong tanggapan?

SPFMD: Opo, dumaan na po sa aking tanggapan, pinapaaresto po yung mga hindi sumisipot sa hearing. Alam mo, kaya tumatagal ito ay dahil sa ayaw humarap, yung mga tinatawag ng Blue Ribbon Committee na humarap, sila Limlingan, at yung isang lady na secretaryna  si Baloloy, ay nagtatago. Kaya hindi makumple-kumpleto ang imbestigasyon ay yung mga tao na ay hindi humaharap. Kaya naman aming ipina-pahuli na sa Senado at mag-testify at pagkatapos ay pwede nang isara ang imbestigasyon. 

Ang hirap naman na ide-defy lang nila ang orders ng Blue Ribbon Committee, kailangan ay humarap sila at magtestigo, para masara na. ###

  

Drilon to Umali: Don’t interfere with the affairs of the Senate

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon today chided Oriental Mindoro Representative Reynaldo Umali for interfering in the internal affairs of the Senate.

Drilon’s statement came after Umali proposed a major overhaul of the Senate committees once Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero choose to run for a higher office in 2016.

Drilon, also the Liberal Party’s vice chairman, said his partymate Umali’s statements “constitute a serious breach in the long-standing tradition of inter-parliamentary courtesy.”

Drilon said that Umali, as a fellow member of Congress, would do well to stop meddling on the internal matters of the Senate."

“I strongly urge my partymate Umali to observe inter-parliamentary courtesy and mind his own business. I am sure that my partymate knows better than to act like a blabbermouth,” said Drilon.

“We must refrain from making statements which do not help the already toxic political environment,” he added.

Drilon said he is strongly opposed to Umali’s assertion that prospective candidates in the 2016 presidential elections Poe and Escudero should be stripped of their respective chairmanships of Senate committees.

“Our legislative work in the Senate is immune from partisanship, and I will see to it that it stays that way,” Drilon stressed.

“His suggestion is simply absurd, given that we still have to finish a lot of our legislative priorities in the 16^th Congress. We have a close and healthy working relationship in the Senate as evident from a number of measures the chamber has continuously passed,” said Drilon.

The Senate chief said that with less than a year left, he still expects the senators and their respective committees to continue working on pending reform measures of national importance that the Senate has promised the public.

The Senate leader said that regardless of their political plans, he is confident that Poe and Escudero will continue to effectively man their posts, given the crucial functions these committees to public interests.  

Poe chairs three Senate committees—public information and mass media; public order and dangerous drugs; and the joint committee on the Human Security Act, while Escudero, is at the helm of three Senate committees—environment and natural resources, and joint committees on the Clean Water Act and Chainsaw Act. - END

Transcript of Bombo Radyo with Senate President Franklin M. Drilon with Jun Desca

Q:  I understand na itong nakaraang araw ay maraming naipasang panukalang batas sa Senado.

SPFMD: Unang-una yung modernization act ng PAGASA. Naglaan kami ng P3 billion na mangagaling sa contribution ng PAGCOR sa National Treasury para po ma-modernize natin ang equipment sa PAGASA. P3 billion po ito, ito po ang ating itinabi at inappropriate para sa modernization ng kagamitan ng PAGASA. Halimbawa yung 5 bagong Doppler radars magmula sa Aparri hanggang sa Surigao, iyan ang ilalagay natin diyan, para makapag-silbi ng husto ang PAGASA, nakailangang kailangan natin ngayon dahil panahon na naman ng mga bagyo sa ating bansa.

Pangalawa po yung tinatawag natin na Naval Architecture Modernization Bill, kung saan ipinasa natin itong panukalang batas na magmomodernize sa propesyon ng naval architecture sa Pilipinas sa pamamagitan ng pagsama ng mga subjects sa naval architecture sa mga itinuturo sa engineering schools  sa ating bansa.

Q: Paano po iyan, nung sumuko si Senator Enrile ay siya ang Senate Minority Leader, babalik po ba siya as Minority Leader?

SPFMD: Tama po iyan, dahil si Senator Sotto ay “acting” Minority Leader lamang, kaya pagbalik ni Senator Enrile babalik po siya sa kanyang posisyon bilang Minority Leader. Ang sabi po ng aming Minority Leader ay sa Lunes daw ay mag-rereport na si Enrile sa session hall, dahilan po sa binigyan siya ng bail ng Korte Suprema at ngayong araw – sa pagkalam ko - ay hihintayin sa Sandiganbayan to actually post the bail.

Q: Siguro naman magiging malaking tulong si Senator Enrile sa mga panukalang batas, lalo na’t hinihimay na ang kontrobersiyal na Bangsamoro Basic Law.

SPFMD: Tama po iyan. Given the fact na malawak na ang karanasan ni Senator Enrile sa pamahalaan, makakatulong po siya sa pagtingin sa mga importanteng panukalang batas, yung sinabi mo nga na Bangsamoro Basic Law. Malawak na po ang karanasan ni Senator Enrile, at titingnan niya po iyan nang husto,sa palagay ko at sasali siya sa debate to come up with a better legislation.

Q: Namayapa na po si dating Sen. Butz Aquino. Ano na po ba ang ginagawa ng Senado para sa kanya?

SPFMD: Kahapon po ay nagpasa kami ng resolution to express our condolences at the demise of our colleague Senator Butz Aquino, at mamayang hapon ay mayroong kaming misa sa Senado, at dadalhin po doon ang labi yung urn – dahil crinemate po siya – dadalhin sa Senado.

Kaya po aking inaayanyayahan ang ating mga kaibigan na ibig makiramay sa pamilya ni Senator Butz Aquino na pumunta sa Senado mamayang alas-dos ng hapon at doon po ay may misa at aming ibibigay ang resolution of condolences sa pamilya ni Senator Butz Aquino.

Alam niyo po, ating maalala si Senator Butz noong August 21 movement, na siya ang nagumpisa, siya po ay nanawagan sa mga kababayan na pumunta sa EDSA, kaya po nagkaroon ng EDSA Revolution. Sa pagka-senador talagang inalagaan niya ang ating mga kooperatiba, dahil siya ay naniniwala na kapag umulad ang mga kooperatiba ay mas uunlad at mawawalan po ng mahirap sa ating bansa.

Pangatlo, siya rin po ang tumayong on his principle na hindi dapat manatili ang mga basing militar dito sa ating bansa. Bumoto po siya na hindi maipagpatuloy ang mga US military bases dito dahilan sa kanyang paninindigan. Nawalan po siya ng boto sa Central Luzon, dahilan sa maraming kababayan ni Butz Aquino ang hindi sangayon sa kanyang desisyon, dahil marami po ang nawalan ng trabaho, pero si Senator Butz po ay dahilan sa kanyang paniniwala na hindi na dapat magkaroon ng mga base militar ang Amerikano sa Clark at sa Subic, ay siya po ay bumoto ng “No” sa Senado on the ratification of the US Bases Treaty. ###

Transcript of Ambush Interview with Senate President Franklin M. Drilon

Q: On the passing of former Senator Butz Aquino

SPFMD: We will pass the resolution condoling the family, which we will hand to the family tomorrow when we have the mass at the morning.

Q: How do you remember Senator Butz?

SPFMD:  He stood for his principles. First, I had interactions with him as Executive Secretary. But I do remember, that one of the issues of the time was the ratification of the treaty for the US bases, and Butz took a principled position. He voted “No.”

He may have realized that this would alienate his supporters in the Central Luzon, but nevertheless he believed  that he has to stand by his principles and that cost him hundreds of thousands of votes, which resulted to his being no. 24^th in the elections at that time.  So I remember him as a principled man.

I remember he believes strongly in cooperatives as a way of uplifting the poverty in the countryside. He was a very conscientious proponent of rural development through cooperatives. In that sense, the cooperative movement in our country has lost a champion.

Q: Any possible return of JPE to the Senate?

SPFMD: We will honor, as we have always done, we will follow the orders of the Supreme Court. I haven’t received them yet.

Q:  Can he go back to work?

SPFMD: Certainly, if he is granted bail then he can come to the Senate. He has never abandoned work, anyway, he continued to perform the functions of a senators with except the attendance of sessions, which he could not do. ###  

Statement by Senate President Franklin M. Drilon on the Supreme Court's ruling granting the petition for bail of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile

"We respect the decision of the Supreme Court granting bail to Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. The Senate will always respect, follow and implement every decision of the courts. We will abide by the legal processes as we have always done in the past." -End- 

Transcript of Ambush Interview with Senate President Franklin M. Drilon

Q: You wanted Secretary Abad to specify items in the special purpose funds?

SPFMD:  Yes, to answer all of these unfounded allegations of a lump sum, I asked him to specify the areas where it is logical to specify.  Number one, the main calamity fund. You cannot specify that because you would not know how many calamities would visit us. In so far as the Yolanda Rehabilitation is concerned, you can specify that. Dahil matagal na itong Yolanda, yung rehabilitation fund should be disaggregated and sasabihin kung saan napunta. Hindi lang yung sasabihin natin, school building, saan mapunta yung school building? Hindi natin pwedeng sabihing housing, saan mapupunta yung housing? Kaya nila yun, kasi may mga plano na.

Now, yung sa calamity fund, hindi talaga pwede. May lump sum sa death benefits, eh kung gusto nilang i-specify, sabihin na kung sino ang mamamatay para aming ma-disaggregate, kasi lump sum yun. Kung sasabihin nila na ito ay bawal, pwede naming i-disaggregate, pero sila ang magbigay ng pangalan kung sino ang entitled sa death benefits. You can’t push this to its illogical conclusions, so let us be rational about this. You keep on saying lump sum, alin yung lump sum? As I said, you cannot disaggregate death benefits unless you are going to tell us who are going to die.

You cannot disaggregate calamity, unless you tell us how many are coming. Yung iba, dapat i-specify. Yung sinasabing entitlement ng local government units on certain laws, that can be specified and they have agreed to disaggregate it. For example, the share of a local government on a mining company insofar as excise taxes is concerned. You cannot immediately specify because hindi mo naman alam kung magkano ang ibabayad ng mining company in terms of the excise tax from which the LGU will share.

What will you do? Ok, I was suggesting to them, you make an approximation of what this LGU is entitled to, subject to the condition that these are just estimates and the final figure will come when the treasurer now certifies as to how much is the taxes paid. Mga ganoon na mga instances. It is easy to shout lump sum but if you look at the specifics, you will realize that you can only do so to a certain extent.

Q: Under SC ruling, hindi po completely pinagbabawal yung lump sum?

SPFMD: Ang pinagbabawal ng Korte Suprema is the post-budget participation of the legislators. Yun ang pinagbawal at wala sa budget. Yung lump sum pinag-uusapan natin. The Supreme Court never intended that all the lump sum should be disaggregated because they realized it is impractical to do so.  

Q: Hahaba yung budget sir? 

SPFMD: Hindi lang yun, hindi mo ma-predict kung sino ang mamamatay, di ba? So sa lump sum on the death benefits, merong nakalagay. Death benefits of barangay officials. They say this is a lump sum. Eh di sabihin natin kung sino ang mamamatay.

Q: Pareho lang ba yung lump sum appropriations sa 2016? Meron din sa 2015 budget?

SPFMD: Pareho lang. I am explaining to you what the lump sum is all about.

Q: So yung issue na finile sa Korte Suprema, confident kayo na mababasura lang yun?

SPFMD: Yes.

Q: What did Justice Carpio want to discuss with the Senate yesterday?

SPFMD: He briefed us on the need to pay particular attention and to unite everybody in the position taken by the Executive Branch particularly on the arbitration because we have no capacity to contest China economically or militarily. Therefore, our remedy is to enforce the Code of Conduct in international law. That is why we have the arbitration.

It is the hope of Justice Carpio that once the decision is rendered, hopefully in our favour, we should avail of all avenues to enforce it, including particularly the United Nations. But, the principal purpose of the lecture is to brief the senators and to make sure that we are all united insofar as the course of action taken is concerned. What he in fact is saying is what the government need is hope. Because right now, the Chinese government has about seven reclamations over the South China Sea.

Q: No discussion about the SET?

SPFMD: No, in fact nobody asked. That was the request, that was upon the initiative of Justice Carpio, that we have this briefing.

Q: So challenge po ito sa next presidency?

SPFMD: Yes, this is a challenge for the next administration to pursue these claims that we have, because Justice Carpio does not expect a decision until about middle of next year.

Q: On the BBL sessions in the Senate, you said that it will take about 11 sessions to wrap up the debates.

SPFMD: I do not want to impose any deadlines, because these can be twisted. We will see to what extent are the debates. ###