Close Aquino business allies to benefit from 2015 national budget?

SELDOM discussed in the 2015 National Expenditure Program (NEP) is how the proposed spending plan, including presidential lump sums, will be used to support rich families and business groups with apparent close ties to the Aquino administration. Through budgetary support for the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program, these favored families and groups will continue to receive benefits under the pretext of infrastructure development.

Some P57.2 billion in public funds have been allocated in the 2015 NEP to guarantee the profits of investors participating in Aquino’s PPP program, pay for an onerous PPP contract, and facilitate the implementation of more PPP projects. The amount includes: (a) P30 billion for the Risk Management Program (RMP) to “manage the national government’s fiscal risks and enhance the country’s credibility among potential PPP proponents”; (b) P10.9 billion for the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) PPP for Infrastructure Projects; (c) P7.4 billion to support the LRT 1 and LRT 2 extension projects of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA); (d) P4.7 billion to pay for government obligations under its Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT) deal with the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC); (e) P2.7 billion for the Department of Transportation and Communications’ (DOTC) PPP for Transport Projects; and (f) P1.6 billion for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) PPP for School Building Projects.