MANILA, Philippines - Former Presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo has debunked accusations made by President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) regarding mismanagement of the 2010 calamity fund and other alleged anomalies. 

In an interview with ANC's Dateline on Tuesday, Saludo said he would have given the new administration room for mistakes, except that it had made "damaging and unfounded" allegations in the SONA.

Contrary to Aquino's claim that the calamity fund for 2010 has already been depleted, Saludo said P10 billion allocated for the calamity fund is still waiting to be unlocked by Aquino himself.

Saludo was referring to the P10 billion supplemental budget that Congress adopted late last year to augment the P2 billion available calamity fund earmarked for the year.

The supplemental budget was approved following the typhoons that battered the Philippines, mostly Luzon.

He explained “these are unprogrammed funds that can’t just use tax revenues…These will have to be in the form of new loans.”

In this case, the World Bank has already issued a loan amounting to $250 million, he said.

“It’s just awaiting the signature of Aquino,” he said.

The supplemental budget contains a provision that for the unprogrammed fund to be released, there should be a perfected loan agreement.

Bias for Pampanga

Saludo said the accusations that Pampanga got the biggest chunk of the calamity fund “should be looked into.”

“As far as I know, [typhoon] Pepeng also hit Pampanga…The other thing is, part of the calamity projects are flood-control projects. You have to address that to prevent future damages,” he said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s home province supposedly got P108 million, Aquino had revealed.

“Without getting into details…the [P108 million] may be justified…[This] vis-à-vis P12 billion is less than 1%,” Saludo said.

Saludo, also former secretary-general of the Public Reconstruction Commission, said there was indeed an assistance request from Pangasinan.

“It may have already been recommended to the president for approval,” he said.

Where are the specifics?

Saludo said Aquino hit “the right buttons” during the SONA on Monday.

He said, however, the speech lacked the specifics, especially the answers to the perceived problems.

On Napocor selling at a loss leading to its eventual bankruptcy, Saludo asked: “So is he going to raise charges now?”

On the excessive benefits of MWSS officials, Saludo said: “We tried to trim the salaries of government-owned and -controlled corporations but we ran into problems with labor laws…That’s why I want to see how he will solve the problem.”

On filing tax evasion charges, he said: “The question is ‘how much more do you hope to collect?’…Give us the numbers…That is what the market is waiting for.”

He said Aquino has been stressing his slogan against corruption, but had failed to issue new appointments to the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) and the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC).

“There’a Truth Commission, fine. But what about the anomalies of the current administration? That’s the job of the PAGC. Every president created their own version of the PAGC,” he said.