Speech
of
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
Upon signing of the 1994 General Appropriations Act
[Delivered at the Ceremonial Hall, Malacañang, December 30, 1993]
Gearing up for growth
I AM PLEASED to sign on this day Republic Act 7663, the General Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1994, which reserves funds for the operations of the government and other purposes from January 1 to December 31, 1994. Let me express my gratitude to the senators and congressmen, especially Senate President Edgardo Angara and House Speaker Jose de Venecia, the chairmen and members of the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Finance Committee for their dedicated efforts toward the early enactment of the national budget for 1994.
A budget that supports our development goals
The expeditious passage of the 1994 General Appropriations Act manifests the collective desire of the executive and the legislative branches, as expressed in the legislative-executive summit last August, to map out a national budget that truly supports the country’s development goals, one that will catalyze long-delayed and much needed social services and economic growth. The budget that I sign today, therefore, embodies Government’s commitment to provide a better life for our countrymen by alleviating individual, family and national poverty.
I view the congressional revisions of the original budget proposal, which I submitted, as a rightful exercise of the legislature’s power over the purse conferred on it by our Constitution. But I note with deep concern the net effect of the amendments that have been introduced by our colleagues in Congress. Somehow, the overall configuration and complexion of the General Appropriations Act have been substantially altered owing to realignments and special grants of budgetary authority.
Several departments and special-purpose funds suffered hefty cuts, as compared with the original proposal, and some benefited from net increases. Similarly, Congress authorized several agencies, particularly State universities and colleges, to use their income for various purposes. It also expanded authority to use savings and imposed congressional restrictions or limitations on appropriations in many instances.
Curtailing the delivery of essential services
These cuts, realignments and special provisions, I strongly believe, would make very difficult the implementation of major Government programs and curtail the effective delivery of essential public services. For example, funds for irrigation, water supply, the rebel returnee program and export promotion are being cut at this critical point of our expected economic takeoff.
When the need of the hour is cohesion, continuity and consistency in program planning and implementation, any major departure from the original 1994 socioeconomic thrusts would only derail our development efforts. With severely reduced resources in several key areas, we cannot possibly maintain the gains so painstakingly achieved in 1993, much less speed up the momentum of economic growth.
I have tried to use my veto powers sparingly as a matter of policy. The record of the past 18 months proves this. However, for the reasons I have stated above and in the national interest, I have decided to exercise my constitutional prerogative to veto or otherwise qualify several items in the Appropriations Act approved by Congress.
Specifically:
On budgetary realignments: release and disbursement of increases in the appropriations of certain offices, programs or projects due to budgetary realignments made by Congress shall be subject to executive approval.
On budgetary augmentation by use of income: I am directly vetoing new special provisions, introduced in the 1994 budget, which authorize the use of income and the creation, operation and maintenance of revolving funds.
Regarding some old and long existing special provisions on the use of income and the creation of revolving funds, I am allowing agencies previously authorized to use incomes to continue using them in accordance with their special provisions.
On expanded authority to use savings: I am directly vetoing new special provisions that treat savings as new appropriations or as a new funding source for the payment of fringe benefits and pensions.
On special authorization given certain agencies to use savings to grant allowances and incentives to their employees, all agencies of Government shall be guided by the provisions of Section 8, Article 9-B of the Constitution.
On restrictions/limitations on the release or use of certain appropriations: I am directly vetoing those provisions that would violate the terms of contracts or covenants, or impair certain programs, or discourage private-sector participation.
I am, however, allowing implementation, under certain conditions, of those provisions that involve the proper administration of funds.
On appropriations for debt service: Much as I agree with Congress in its desire to reduce the debt burden, I am directly vetoing the special provisions on debt-service payments that disallow the use of funds for the payment of liabilities of the Central Bank Board of Liquidators.
Other Presidential vetoes: To forestall probable dissension and disillusionment in many sectors of the Government service, I am also directly vetoing the following:
Special provisions on the Department of Public Works and Highways engineering and administrative overhead, as this would impose an overhead of five percent or even more;
And special provisions on the use of services of instructors in the National Manpower and Youth Council, as this may be mistakenly construed as legislative authorization for the Council to grant honoraria allowances.
The rationale and specific reasons for all of the above veto and qualifying actions are fully explained in my veto message to Congress, which will be separately transmitted.
The flagship system: judicious use of resources
To actualize, at the least expense, our shared goals as determined in our recent multisectoral people’s economic summit, the executive branch has devised a new system whereby public expenditures will be given priority so that our scarce resources will be spent on programs and projects that will have the most favorable impact on the economy, the alleviation of poverty and the delivery of basic services. I refer to the “flagship” system, which the Cabinet adopted during its recent deliberations on our social services and economic thrusts for 1994, particularly the Core Public Investment Program (CPIP).
How will this flagship system work? Under this plan, we shall select projects from the CPIP, based on certain key criteria, that should be completed ahead of the others. These projects will be given full budgetary support to ensure their expeditious implementation. If so warranted, additional funding beyond the budget limit for the concerned Department will be considered to complete the flagship project.
During the last week of 1993, the Cabinet finally selected the flagship projects for top priority treatment. These I will personally champion to provide focus, direction and timeliness.
Necessarily, the projects we will champion are those that are “doable,” with the highest impact and widest public support. These could be in housing, communications, school-buildings, transportation, water conservation and supply, highways, power, agricultural productivity, irrigation, environmental protection and other high-priority projects in the social sector identified under the Medium-term Philippine Development Plan. Flagship projects are considered “first among equals” of the 400 or so projects under the CPIP.
More solid growth for 1994
The year is now coming to a close, and from all key indications we can expect a significant upturn of the economy of about 2.5 percent of GNP for 1993. That should be enough to set the stage for more solid growth of at least 4.5 percent at the end of 1994. We expect this growth to pick up steadily year after year as we approach the year 2000.
In closing, I again extend my heartfelt gratitude to the leadership of Congress, most especially to the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance, for the timely passage of the General Appropriations Act for calendar year 1994.
I appeal to the sense of cooperation and understanding of the legislative community so that the effective partnership that we forged from the beginning shall continue to be based on the national interest and the people’s welfare, and will remain so and even be enhanced in the future.
On the part of the executive, from national down to the lowest Local Government unit, we commit to our people the judicious and productive use of the resources authorized in Republic Act 7663.
After all is said and done, the most important result expected shall be that we did not fail our people, because we restored our beloved Philippines to its rightful, respected place in the community of nations.