Posted on 08/28/2013 8:13:37 PM PDT by TexGrill
DESPITE calls for the abolition of the executive department’s “pork barrel”, President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Wednesday defended the lump sum funds under his discretion, including the Malampaya, calamity and the president’s social funds (PSF).
Aquino said lump sum funds are needed to create an elbow room for emergency and unexpected situations. He said that it is difficult to itemize the lump sum funds under his discretion, especially the calamity fund.
“The question is, how can you itemize the calamity funds before the calamity strikes?
The department should really have a fund to be used in calamities that we cannot, of course, predict,” the President explained.
Based on the 2014 National Expenditure Program, P7.5 billion is allocated for calamity fund while the PSF has no fixed allocation as it is obtained from the annual remittances of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
Last year, Pagcor remitted P5.526 billion.
The President has P1.337 billion discretionary funds. It consists of P796 billion automatic appropriations; P310 billion special programmed funds; P139.9 billion unprogrammed funds; P62.6 billion conditional cash transfer; P7.22 billion Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) funds, P1.46 billion confidential and intelligence expenses; and P20.03 billion for the bottom-up budgeting approach.
(Excerpt) Read more at manilatimes.net ...
Listing of pork barrel projects:
http://cdn.manilatimes.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/pork_to_ngos.pdf
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