admin 
Ni Estong Reyes
HALOS kulang dalawang buwan bago matapos ang 2023, may mahigit pang P1.27 trilyong pondo ang national government na dapat gastusin, ayon kay Senador Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara nitong Miyerkoles.
Sa pagsisimula ng deliberasyon ng pambansang badyet sa 2024, sinabi ni Angara na kumakatawan ang P1.27 trilyon ng 24% ng P5.268-trillion aprubadong national budget sa 2023.
“The obligated amounts are total around P4.08 trillion, whereas the unobligated amounts total around P1.27 trillion,” tugon ni Angara sa paglilinaw ni Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros.
Sinabi ni Angara na umabot sa 76% ang obligation rate para sa 2023 habang 80% lamang sa disbursement rate.
Base sa pagtakda ng Department of Budget and Management (DBM) kinilala ang obligations bilang legal na bayarin na nagawa at dapat bayaran ng gobyerno sa ngayon o sa hinaharap.
Samantala, ang disbursement naman ay tumutukoy sa pagkuha ng cash mula sa
Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) dulot ng encashment ng tseke na ipinalabas ng ahensiya ng pamahalaan at pagbabayad sa budgetary obligations.
Natuklasan sa naunang bahagi ng interpelasyon na nangunguna sa ahensiya na may underspending sa national budget ang Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Energy (DOE), at Department of Tourism (DOT).
“The underspending was attributed to various reasons such as procurement-related issues, failed biddings, late delivery of goods, and checks that are yet to be disbursed due to preliminary work for social protection programs,” ayon kay Angara.
Pero, ayon kay Angara, nagsumite ang DBM sa Palasyo ng catch-up plan upang tugun an ang problema sa underspending.
“Among the steps that the government intends to do to address this are the conduct of early procurement activities, provision of capacity building and training for procuring entities, and adoption of the Integrated Financial Management Information System that will allow real-time transaction monitoring across agencies,” ayon kay Angara.
Sa kanyang pag-isponsor sa panukalang 2024 budget, sinabi ni Angara na: “it will show the “administration’s ideas on how to encourage growth, slash poverty, narrow the budget deficit and reduce debt, jumpstart the economy’s transformation, and finally cement our status as an upper middle-income nation.”
