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| Photo by snitchpogi12 |
MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III has promised to
give proper attention to the revised Armed Forces modernization law and
committed to spend P10 billion project. However, the Malacañang has only
submitted a third of the annual P15 billion ($340 million). The administration
has only produced P120 billion ($2.78 billion) which is short of ($226 million).
In Rappler’s post, Budget Secretary
Florencio Abad told them the proposed
law that pursues to redefine savings will be helpful in funding the shortage. It will allow the continuation of outlines under the administration's Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) that were lately declared unlawful by the Supreme Court.
law that pursues to redefine savings will be helpful in funding the shortage. It will allow the continuation of outlines under the administration's Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) that were lately declared unlawful by the Supreme Court.
Miscellaneous funds are under the
budget category Special Purpose Funds (SPF )
– tagged by critics as Malacañang's pork barrel but defended by the government
as needed to give it the flexibility to respond to unexpected expenses such as
calamity response and other possibilities.
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| 2015 budget to Congress |
The SPF accounts for P501 billion
($11.3 billion) of the total P2.6 trillion ($58.8 billion) budget for 2015. Since
2010, Aquino has allocated a total P40 billion (about $906 million) to military
modernization.
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| DND's Budget Breakdown for 2015 Screenshot by rappler |
In Asia alone, Philippines is one of the of the
countries with the weakest militaries
that is why Aquino shifts its attention to equipping the armed forces of the
Philippines and the Navy to response to the
growing tension in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) due to
territorial disputes among claimant countries.
