THE P1-billion cut in the Reproductive Health budget, specifically for Family Health and Responsible Parenting, was not in the least surprising. Because for all of government’s press releases about transparency and matuwid na daan, the budget and the decisions that are made about where and how to spend public money remain shrouded in secrecy. Just because documents are made available to us does not mean everything’s happening above ground. And when transparency means going through long lists of line-item budgeting and reams of paper, it’s easy to see how government can take every opportunity to slip one past us.
Savings in government is not the same as savings as we all know from our daily lives. Savings in government more often than not refer to funds unspent because the absorptive capacity is not there. Sa atin, there is no such thing a lack of absorptive capacity or blockages so we don’t have savings in that sense. Our savings come from not spending as much as we would like.
These un-utilized appropriated funds are then called savings. Kaya nga DAP came from “savings”. Yung mga perang naka-tengga ay inilipat kung saan walang blockages. Pero mahirap ng gawin iyan ngayon because of the SC decision on DAP. The bureaucracy is afraid of being sued…kaya mas lalo pang nagkaleche-leche ang pag gamit ng mga pondong naka-tiwangwang because of blockages or lack of absorptive capacity.
Anyway, naka pag-magic ni Loren at si Sotto because walang nagbabantay. Akala ng mga pro-RH, ang mga legislators and civil society na ayus na ang lahat so natulog na sila sa pansitan.
The thing is pag ang isang isyu ay talagang contentious at ang kontra sa majority ay hindi susuko hanggang sa kamatayan, they will always be looking for ways to undermine what they are fighting against.
Ganyan din ang sinusubukan nilang gawin SIN Tax pero ang Sin Tax group ay mas nakatutok, not only sa pasikot-sikot sa Congress but dun din sa paggawa ng IRR at kung ano pa ang ibang butas na pwede lusutan ng mga daga.
oo nga. pia cayetano says it’s all about trust. LOL.