Drilon backs extending 2020 GAA, Bayanihan 2 but…

Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon doubted whether a cash-strapped national coffer can absorb additional spending on top of the programmed P4.5 trillion expenditures for next year once Congress extends the validity of appropriations under Republic Act 11494, or the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act” or “Bayahihan 2” and the 2020 General Appropriations Act.

Drilon said he supports an extension of the expiring Bayahihan 2 as well as the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA) particularly “in light of reports by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that the country’s Covid-19 war chest is relatively small compared to its neighboring Asia countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.”

However, Drilon said the “funding remains the biggest problem of the government.”

“I support extending the validity of the spending authorization under GAA 2020 and Bayanihan 2. The problem is where to source the funds to back up these authorizations,” Drilon said in a statement Monday. The Bayanihan 2 is set to expire on December 19 while the 2020 GAA is valid only until December 31, 2020.

“To provide authorization is one thing but to fund it is another. Our current fiscal space makes us doubt whether the level of unspent amount under Bayanihan 2 and 2020 GAA is something the government can absorb on top of the programmed expenditures for next year,” Drilon added. The President is set to sign the proposed P4.5 trillion national budget for next year with a programmed deficit of 8.9% of GDP, he noted.

To address the government’s cash requirement, the Senate chief fiscalizer said the government must do another “cash sweep” in order to raise funds to implement much-needed relief programs in the Bayanihan 2 and continue critical programs, projects and activities under 2020 GAA.

“The President must realign idle funds including the P33 billion ‘parked’ funds in the Philippine International Trading Center, where the spending authority already lapsed, including the interest earned, to fund these authorizations. We have no option but to do a ‘cash sweep’ and that should cover idle funds and interest income being held illegally by PITC,” Drilon stressed.

“Hindi natin nawalis yung PITC na may natutulog na mahigit P33 bilyon. Naitago po nila sa Department of Finance. With our vigilance, PITC can no longer keep the funds. This huge sum of money being withheld by PITC should be put to good use by buying Covid-19 vaccines or by funding Bayanihan 2 extension,” Drilon said.

A bill seeking to extend the validity of appropriations under Bayanihan 2 until June 30, 2021 was already endorsed by a House of Representatives committee last week. The chamber had earlier approved on second reading a bill seeking to extend the validity of 2020 GAA until December 31, 2021.

It was Drilon who exposed the irregularities and shady schemes perpetuated by the state-owned trading firm. His expose prompted the finance department to call for the issuance of an executive order to the immediate return of over P33 billion, lodged with PITC, to provide money to the cash-strapped government in order to respond to Covid-19 pandemic and the onslaught from three devastating typhoons that hit the country last month.

The Senate is also set to conduct an investigation into PITC.