Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Issue No. 40 November 18 - 24, 2001 Quezon City, Philippines |
Crumbs Go to the Poor in Budget 2002 The Arroyo administration’s neglect (or is it abandonment?) of the welfare of marginalized sectors may be gleaned from the proposed national budget, a vital instrument in implementing the government’s policies and programs. BY
DANILO ARAÑA ARAO
Exactly how much does the Arroyo administration care for the poor? For the whole of next year, government will only allot for every Filipino P28.59 for housing, P58.20 for land distribution, P186.15 for health services, P389.23 for social security and P1,662.43 for education. These figures are telltale signs of where the government priorities lie, assuming that the proposed 2002 national budget is approved in its entirety. The contents of the proposed budget are now being deliberated upon by the bicameral committee which started meeting last November 12. Congress aims to pass the budget and get the President’s approval before the end of this year. The meager allocation for social services is not welcome news for the poor, particularly the homeless. According to the Consolidated Union of Employees - National Housing Authority (CUE-NHA), the housing backlog is currently 4.2 million housing units. Of the 78 million Filipinos, there are 25.2 million individuals who have no shelter, CUE-NHA also says. Although education may have a four-figure per capita allocation, this can hardly make a dent in the situation of 4,829 rural barangays which do not have an elementary school. In addition, about 76% (or 26,945) of the 35,617 public elementary schools do not have a principal. The same is true for 4,209 public high schools since 42% of them (1,786) also do not have one. In a recent research, Party-list Bayan Muna said that the proposed budget has a whopping P22.67-billion increase for debt service, from P181.60 billion in 2001 to P204.27 in 2002. Social services like land distribution and health only had minuscule increases in allocation by P0.39 billion and P0.88 billion, respectively. (See Table) The proposed budget amounts to P780.79 billion, of which 23% goes to interest payments for the country’s domestic and foreign debt. As of June 2001, public domestic debt amounts to P1.140 trillion while public foreign debt is pegged at P1.120 trillion. This means that the total public debt stock (or the debt owed by the government to local and foreign creditors) amounts to a whopping P2.260 trillion. Indeed, the government’s abandonment of the welfare of marginalized sectors may be gleaned from the national budget, a vital instrument in implementing every administration’s policies and programs. Still, the figures on budgetary allocations for the poor could be misleading. The fact remains that if indeed there are budgetary allocations supposedly for the social welfare of poor Filipinos – meager as these are – the money is expected to go to the pockets of corrupt government bureaucrats. Aside from this, allocations for such services as housing and health will only benefit business corporations considering that corresponding programs are usually implemented through onerous and profit-driven dealings with them. In its latest study, the London-based Transparency International (TI, an anti-corruption watchdog) said that the present administration of President Arroyo will not likely lick widespread corruption in government. Most Filipinos have yet to see tangible proofs of Arroyo’s pro-poor pronouncements. Bulatlat.com
We want to know what you think of this article.
|