Senate leaders: Funds for oversight panels not ending up in senators’ pockets

 News
Feb 242014
 

Millions of pesos being allocated to Senate oversight committees are not ending up in senators’ pockets, Senate leaders said Monday.

In a radio interview, Senate President Franklin Drilon said the annual budget for each of the chamber’s 24 oversight committees are all accounted for.

“I can tell you, nagko-comply ang lahat ng mga senador. In fact, hirap na hirap mag-liquidate ng mga budget ng bawat komite,” Drilon said told radio dzRH.

He added that oversight committees are required to present receipts and certifications for all their fund releases.

A Philippine Star report published earlier in the day said the Commission on Audit (COA) recently sent a memorandum reminding senators on the proper use of funds for oversight committees.

Oversight committees are created to check the implementation of specific laws. Some existing oversight panels include those tasked to monitor the Clean Air Act, the Overseas Voting Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Law.

Audited, liquidated

The reported COA memorandum came out amid accusations that Senators Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada pocketed millions in their pork barrel funds. The three lawmakers have repeatedly denied these allegations.

In a separate statement, Senate secretary Oscar Yabes said that although he has not yet seen the COA memorandum, the issues being raised on the budget of oversight panels “have been addressed already.”

Yabes added that funds for these committees go to salaries of staff members and consultans, and not to the pockets of senators who chair the panels.

“The Senate is not exempt from government auditing procedures. The funds entrusted to us faithfully undergo liquidation processes and the expenses are supported by receipts and other documents evidencing the disbursements,” he said.

Last year, the Senate leadership reduced the number of standing oversight committees from 35 to 24. Each panel was also allocated a uniform budget of P20 million.

The Senate minority bloc opposed this move by Drilon’s leadership, saying it only subtracted funds from some oversight committees, and increased the allocations for others. — RSJ, GMA News

Senate agrees to cut spending on oversight committees

 News
Aug 052013
 
Senate agrees to cut spending on oversight committees

The Senate has agreed to cut spending on oversight committees following controversies on the use of the government funds involving some senators. In a statement on Tuesday, Senate President Franklin Drilon said he and his colleagues have reached a consensus to trim down the number of oversight committees. “We will rationalize the oversight committees so that we will be able to save funds by the end of the year,” Drilon said. However, he noted that the Senate has yet to decide which of its 35 oversight panels will be removed and retained. Oversight committees are created to check the implementation of specific laws. Some existing oversight panels include those tasked to monitor the Clean Air Act, the Overseas Voting Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Law. Drilon said scrapping of some of these ad hoc panels will save the Senate up to P500 million annually. Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto earlier said the Senate leadership may trim down the number of oversight panels down to 20. The Senate made this decision after controversies involving some senators and the use of government funds over the past months. Last month, the Philippine Daily Inquirer ran a series of reports detailing how fake groups supposedly used the “pork barrel” of some senators and House members to fund ghost projects worth P10 billion. Earlier this year, former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile was also accused of irregular disbursement of maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) to some senators. Based on the proposed 2014 budget, the Read More …