Group urges gov't to prioritize social spending in 2009
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 03/21/2009 9:09 AM
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Instead of focusing on election-related matters, the government should prioritize social spending for the poor and disadvantaged this year especially with the ongoing global economic crisis, a group said Monday.
According to Social Watch Philippines (SWP), the P1.414-trillion 2009 budget recently approved by President Arroyo will not be effective in easing the effects of the economic downturn if it will only be used for wrong spending priorities.
“On paper, budgetary allocations to social services may have increased but not if they repeat what they did in the 2008 national budget where a significant portion of the promised fund for social development was never released; also, it is clear where the priority is, and that is the P11 billion supplemental budget for the 2010 elections which was passed even before the national budget itself,” SWP convenor Leonor Magtolis Briones said in a statement.
The SWP-led Alternative Budget Initiative has been consistently calling for the release of the approved budget for social expenditures in 2008, which include P70 million for community-based forest management, P400 million for tuberculosis vaccines, P100 million for the promotion of organic farming, funds for teachers' benefits and funds for the purchase of autoclaves.
“The country is expecting a P177 billion deficit which is much higher than their estimated P102 billion. This will mean more debt as the country borrows more money to finance the deficit. The P11 billion for the elections is an additional expenditure that is not yet included in the computation of deficits. Meanwhile, millions of Filipinos become poorer with the failure to release the funds for health, environment, education and agriculture that was promised last year," Briones said.
For his part, Rene Raya of Action for Economic Reforms said the non-release of 2008 funds for environment, health, agriculture, and education led to the worsening situation of Filipinos.
“Statistics showed about 1.4 million Filipino children drop out of elementary and secondary schools every year. The Philippines is the second highest among the ASEAN countries in terms of number of dying infants and children under-5 years old. The World Health Organization reported that the Philippines’ maternal mortality ratio is one of the highest in Asia, at 162 per 100,000 live births in 2006. The country ranks ninth in terms of the number of tuberculosis cases in the world and the highest in Southeast Asia,” Raya said in a statement.
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