MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Senators have removed more than P50 billion worth of 鈥渓ump sum increases鈥� in the proposed funding for the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) next year.
The lump sums were contained in the 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) submitted by the House of Representatives to the Senate.
Sen. Imee Marcos revealed this on Monday after Senate Minority Leader Aquilino 鈥淜oko鈥� Pimentel III asked about the P42.5 billion allotted by Malaca帽ang for NIA next year.
Marcos, who was defending the agency鈥檚 budget on the Senate floor, confirmed the amount but said there were 鈥渓ump sums鈥� added in the House of Representatives.
鈥淲hat we did in the Senate version is firstly, delete all the lump sums because I believe, as Sen. (Raffy) Tulfo highlighted, that this is the source of confusion and potential corruption because there are no line items. There is no identification of individual projects or even their location,鈥� she explained.
鈥淪o as a result, the subcommittee deleted P51.135 billion worth of lump sum increases in pump irrigation, communal irrigation, national system irrigation. So nagtanggal po ako ng napakalaking halaga pero (I removed a significant amount but)鈥hich ended up in the budget being P41 billion as the Minority Leader cited earlier,鈥� she added.
While removing these lump sums, Marcos said the Senate finance subcommittee restored the P6.135 billion budget for assistance to farmers, heavy equipment, and locally funded projects, bringing the new total budget proposal for NIA to P47.558 billion.
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The P6.135 billion, according to her, was included in Malaca帽ang鈥檚 proposal under the National Expenditures Program (NEP) but it was removed by the House.
鈥淪orry po for the confusion, but I felt compelled to remove the lump sums,鈥� she said.
鈥淣atatakot po ako sa lump sums (I am worried about the lump sum),鈥� she later added.
Still responding to Pimentel鈥檚 queries, Marcos explained that the biggest item in the lump sums is the Pump Irrigation Sub-Program which was worth P44.385 billion.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a single procurement contract,鈥� she pointed out.
Although the NIA requested a maximum budget of P25 billion for the said project, Marcos said Malaca帽ang only approved P2 billion as reflected in the NEP.
鈥淎ng NEP nasa P2 billion po, and it ballooned to P44.38 (billion),鈥� she said.
Noting the big discrepancy, Pimentel could not help but remark that the House appears to have acted as the executive.
鈥淢as marami silang ideas na for execution ng executive agency na ito,鈥� he said.
(They have more ideas for the execution of this executive agency.)
Pimentel surmised that as district representatives, House lawmakers consider irrigation a priority project.
A former representative of Ilocos Norte, Marcos also recognized the parochial concerns 鈥渁nd desire to perform鈥� of her counterparts in the House.
鈥淧ero kinabahan po ako from P2 billion naging P44 billion,鈥� she stressed.
(But I got nervous when it went from P2 billion to P44 billion.)
But it is not too late yet, Marcos said, adding that the Senate and the House can still 鈥渃ome to a reasonable and enlightened compromise鈥� when they meet and finalize the 2025 national budget.