MANILA, 24 May 2006 — Philippine legislators are hard put approving a national budget of 1.053 trillion pesos for 2006 after a top official said the government has lost more than that amount to corruption during the last five years.
Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez said that at least P1.3-trillion (about $25 billion) in public revenue were lost due to fraudulent practices of some government officials and agencies from 2001 to 2005.
Speakingat the start of a seminar-workshop on Integrity Development and Public Accountability at the Quezon City Hall, Gutierrez said the money lost could have been used in improving health, education and social welfare services and to reduce the national debt.
“Bigger amounts have been lost to corruption. We could have wiped out totally our foreign debt if we used the amount for that purpose, and wwould still have a surplus,” Gutierrez said.
The Senate has cut the proposed budget by P31 billion, and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye warned that the reduction could cripple the government’s “pro-poor” programs.
“We ask for reasoned consideration of reported budget cuts as these may prejudice crucial grassroots programs,” Bunye said.
The budget cut involved “lump sum appropriations” from the proposed national budget, which senators suspect will be used by the administration for “pork barrel” projects.
The so-called pork barrel fund is often used by whoever sits as president to buy support from members of the House of Representatives and Senate.
Gutierrez also expressed concern that corruption already cuts across various sectors in the society.
“Corruption is not only happening in government offices but also to some members of the private sector. If we will not give it special attention, it will lead to deterioration of our society,” she warned.
Unfortunately, it is the poor who are usually affected by corrupt practices, she said. “Corruption also wreaks havoc to our moral fiber,” she said.
Gutierrez said it is high time to completely eradicate corruption in government to pave the way for better governance and alleviate the lives of the poor.
She believed that eradication of corruption should start at the grassroots level with the active participation of the barangays.
Gutierrez urged barangay officials to start from their ranks the initiative of eradicating corruption by starting a new life and change their attitudes.
“It is not enough to formulate several programs for the eradication of graft and corruption. Let us change the system. But before we change the system, we, ourselves should change.
"We must accept that some of us here accept the old attitude or old system. Through your (barangay officials) initiatives, we will have an orderly, clean and morally upright government and way of living,” Gutierrez said.
