Itinulak ng National Unity Party (NUP), na pinamumunuan ni Antipolo City Rep. Ronaldo Puno, ang paglalagay ng special provisions sa 2027 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) upang pagbawalan ang “for later release” ng mga proyektong kasama sa inaprubahang budget.
Sa isang press briefing nitong Miyerkoles, sinabi ni Puno na nananawagan ang NUP para sa pagpapalabas ng lahat ng pondo para sa mga infrastructure project sa ilalim ng 2025 at 2026 General Appropriations Acts, kabilang ang lahat ng item na minarkahang “For Later Release” (FLR).
“The practice of tagging district projects For Later Release should be discontinued altogether and immediately,” sabi ni Puno sa binasang pahayag ng NUP.
“The practice of tagging district projects For Later Release has no basis in the Constitution or in the Act, and it has become the principal means by which projects Congress funded are held back. We ask that it end,” dagdag pa nito.
Iginiit din ng NUP ang pangangailangang alisin ang mga administrative delay at magpatupad ng operational synchronization sa pagitan ng pagpapalabas ng Department of Budget and Management’s Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) at Sub-Allotment Advice (SAA) ng Department of Public Works and Highways Central Office, upang makarating ang nationally authorized allotments sa regional at district engineering offices nang walang manipulasyon o intermediate bottlenecks.
Sinabi ng 58-miyembrong NUP na tila hindi pantay at selective ang approach sa programming at pagpapatuloy ng mga proyekto ng DPWH sa ilang distrito at lalawigan.
“A number of multi-year, previously prioritized DPWH flagship projects have reportedly been excluded from the National Expenditure Program (NEP), despite years of prior funding and physical execution,” ayon sa pahayag.
“In certain districts and provinces, projects that had been identified and funded were later declared non-implementable by the Department’s district offices, without explanation,” dagdag pa rito.
Ipinahayag din ng NUP ang pagkabahala sa mga pondong inilaan na sa mga distrito o sektor para sa poverty-alleviation at social-protection lifelines programs ngunit na-impound, na umaabot umano ang halaga sa P300 milyon sa ilalim ng AICS at P120 milyon sa ilalim ng MAIFIP.
Sinabi ni Puno na nananatiling matatag ang posisyon ng NUP na dapat matiyak ang pamamahagi at pagpapatuloy ng national resources, maging sa unang paghahanda ng budget o sa final fund releases, at para man ito sa infrastructure o social services.
“On this matter, we urge that the FY 2027 GAA carry a general provision confirming that every appropriation authorized in the Act is released upon its effectivity, with the Act itself serving as the allotment release document in accordance with law and jurisprudence, and prohibiting the classification of any item as ‘For Later Release,’ ‘Needs Clearance,’ or under any similar designation not expressly provided in the Act, so that any such tagging by the DBM or any other office is without force and effect, except for lump-sum items which the ‘GAA itself identifies’ as requiring a Special Budget Request, and for those the DBM should be bound to act within fifteen days or the item is deemed released,” ayon sa pahayag.
Itinutulak din ng NUP na isama sa GAB ang isang probisyon na “an appropriation once released may not thereafter be withheld, recalled, declared non-implementable, or treated as savings except as the GAA’s own provisions on impoundment and savings allow, and should require the DBM to report to both Houses of Congress, within thirty days of effectivity and quarterly thereafter, every appropriation not yet released and the legal basis for each.”
“Also, the practice of punishing districts and communities for any opinions or votes contrary to majority positions that are expressed by their representatives should be ended. We are, after all, a democracy,” dagdag ng political party.
Nais din ng NUP na isama ang isang probisyon na ang mga proyektong nakalista sa unprogrammed appropriations ay dapat pondohan matapos mapondohan ang mga item sa programmed appropriations.
“Our demand is only that the programmed budget this Congress enacted be executed first and in full, and that the unprogrammed appropriations remain what the law and the Court intend them to be, a bounded and deficit-neutral instrument, and *not a means of setting aside what Congress has already funded,” sabi ng NUP.
“While we remain fully committed to the work of this Congress and to the House leadership, we state plainly that our position on the General Appropriations Act as a whole will depend on the resolution of these fundamental concerns, not for political expediency, but in faithful fulfillment of our sworn duty to the constituents we serve,” dagdag pa nito. (Billy Begas)
