WHEN it comes to the chaotic way of handling taxpayers money by state agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations, nothing beats the horror story recounted by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile before members of media recently. Mr. Enrile told a weekly media forum that public money in the billions of pesos is either lying idle or being siphoned off by some greedy people who are in the despicable habit of awarding themselves with underserved fat allowances or all the bonuses they can imagine.
“These funds are lying in the banks. They are booked as assets of some agencies. But they are dormant. They are not being utilized for the development of the country. There are many such items. These are collections from the public by certain agencies entered into the books, but these are beyond the power of Congress to budget,” lamented Enrile.
The dormant funds reportedly include the multibillion-peso earnings from the Malampaya gas project, court filing fees paid by litigants, travel tax collections as well as surpluses in government banks and other government corporations which, Enrile said, are all hidden, held by the boards of directors.
It is certainly obscene that while these funds cannot be accessed for public use, or at least deposited in the national treasury, government, collaborated by Congress, continues to burden the people with additional taxes.
With no less than Enrile, the third most powerful man in the land, sounding helpless about the situation, can ordinary mortals like us ever hope for deliverance from this anomaly?
It’s like asking for a miracle.
