P-NOY WINES, DINES HOUSE ALLIES AHEAD OF KEY BUDGET DEBATES 0N SEPT 6
[PHOTO - THE MALACAÑANG PALACE. Other photos on this page taken at Malacañang's Heroes Hall]
MANILA, AUGUST 30, 2011 (STANDARD) by Christine F. Herrera - PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has hosted a series of lunch and dinner meetings with his allies in the House to rally support for his P1.816-trillion national budget, and ahead of key plenary debates that start Sept. 6.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Sunday confirmed that the President met the lawmakers in batches, starting last month and ending Wednesday last week, but those events were mere "socials."
The President did not issue any orders saying he wanted the national budget approved without cuts, but set the tone that he needed the budget to pursue the administration's agenda, his House allies said.
With the President during these meetings, which were held at the Heroes Hall of the Palace, were Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Transport and Communications Secretary Mar Roxas II, and presidential political adviser Ronaldo Llamas.
The first batch that the President met was the 54-member party-list group last month.
The last dinner was Wednesday with 75 lawmakers from the National Unity Party, Nacionalista Party, Nationalist People's Coalition, Partido ng Masang Pilipino, and the Lakas-Andaya wing, Belmonte said.
Separately, the President met with his party mates from the Liberal Party.
"The President talked about his aspirations for the country and thanked them for their support. It was a very warm atmosphere," Belmonte told the Manila Standard.
The group-by-group meetings took place as Mr. Aquino's allies and the opposition appeared eager to cut the P39.8-billion dole that the Palace wants to hand out to 3 million poor families in 2012.
On Sunday, the opposition said they were ready to question "unacceptable" provisions in the 2012 budget, including its dole program.
"Given the haste with which the conditional cash transfer program was expanded, safeguards were not built up against the fraudsters and five-six curb lenders who are now lining up at the trough," House Deputy Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said.
Earlier, the opposition boycotted the hearings on the budget by the committee on appropriations, which approved the Palace bill with no changes.
The minority said they were ready to question the budget "line by line" in the plenary session.
Horse trading, meanwhile, began after the Palace said it wanted the lawmakers to "perfect" the budget by making sure every peso budgeted was spent where it was allocated.
House Deputy Speaker Jesus Crispin Remulla, an NP party whip, said the Palace wanted the P100-billion pension funds in the military reduced.
"We have to find out first how many soldiers and generals really retired, how many veterans are still alive and so on, because the budget allocation is wasted and reverts to savings or are converted into bonuses if the funds are unused," Remulla told the Manila Standard.
In the judiciary, Remulla said, the Palace also wanted the allocation for 590 unfilled positions for judges placed separately in a supplemental budget so that funds could be withdrawn only when judges were hired.
"We don't expect all of 590 positions to be filled this year," Remulla said.
In the Education Department's allocation of P18 billion for school buildings, only P1 billion was set aside for Congress' disposal.
"If we want to perfect the budget, then we must follow the law and be transparent about everything," Remulla said.
The House also wanted the P18-million intelligence budget for the National Bureau of Investigation increased, he said.
"Where can you find an intelligence arm with only P18 million budget?" With Maricel Cruz
FROM MALAYA BUSINESS INSIGHTS
Noy hems, haws on PLDT-Digitel deal
'Solomonic' decision up?
Government will ensure that no monopoly will result and that public interest will be protected in deciding on whether to allow Philippine Long Distance Co. to buy Digital Communications Philippines Inc. (Digitel), President Aquino said yesterday.
In a prerecorded interview aired before his departure for a four-day visit to China today, Aquino said the Philippines has irrevocably turned its back to monopolistic practices and is determined to keep a level playing field for all industry participants.
He acknowledged, however, that PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan has committed to keep the unlimited talk and text offerings of Digitel through its brand Sun Cellular.
He hinted that the government, through the National Telecommunications Commission, is likely to approve the PLDT-Digitel deal, but with a corresponding re-assignment of frequencies among industry players.
PLDT, through subsidiary Smart Communications, is the No.1 player in the cellular telephone business, while Sun Cellular is a distant No.3 after Globe Telecommunications. The acquisition will lead to a 70 percent market share between PLDT and Sun Cellular.
Pangilinan earlier said he might scuttle the P74.1 billion deal with Digitel's majority owner, JG Summit Holdings, if regulatory approval would not be secured by August 26. That day passed with the NTC saying it was still studying the case.
PLDT struck the deal with JG Summit in March and the original closing date was set for June 30. The closing date was later moved to July 31 and then to the last working day of August.
In the interview aired by Radio Mindanao Network, Aquino said: "Ang interes natin ay walang maging isang monopoly na wala nang makapag-compete. Kung hindi, balik na naman tayo sa sitwasyon na nakatali tayo sa kakayahan ng kung sinuman ang manatili. So ang hinahabol natin dito, pinangako sa buong business community ay level playing field."
He added that keeping text messages and voice calls affordable is only possible if there is healthy competition among the telephone and telecommunication companies.
"So pinagsusubukan natin na magkasundo ang lahat. Ang daming frequencies noon. Medyo maraming technical na complication pero at the end of the day, ang interes ng estado ay manigurado na nandiyan iyung mga serbisyong kakailangan natin, not only for voice and text but, more important, iyung sa warning kung babaha na, warning kung guguho ang lupa at tele-medicine, baka later on pati education kasama na rin diyan," he said.
Aquino said flood and tsunami warnings, landslides and even volcano eruption advisories could be sent to the public using mobile and internet services.
He said this service could also be tapped in the implementation of the Conditional Cash Transfer program and even the mobile educational programs especially in remote areas.
"Nasa 85 million cell phones na raw tayo sa Pilipinas. Ngayon iyung cell phone napaka-importante sa atin," he said.
Aquino's reference to the numerous frequencies available echoes oppositor Globe Telecommunications' stand that if ever the PLDT-Digitel deal is approved, the NTC should redistribute assigned frequencies.
Globe lawyer Rudy Salalima earlier said a PLDT-Digitel combine would have an overwhelming superiority versus Globe in terms of radio frequency, which is measured in terms of megahertz (MHz). Globe is particularly concerned about the frequencies used for 3G, where the ratio would be 1:4.5 in favor of PLDT.
Smart has a total of 113 MHz of radio spectrum; Globe has 90 MHz, and Sun 42.5 MHz.
Salalima said to level the playing field, 22 MHz of frequencies of PLDT should be reassigned to Globe.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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