SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session' 
) 
SENATE 
S.No. 
1488 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article 3, Section 7 provides: 
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SEP -3 All :01 
The right of the people to information on matters of public 
concern shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to 
documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or 
decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for 
policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such 
limitations as may be provided by law. 
·,1111, ••. 0,1 
, 
Republic Act No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act, 
Section 3 provides: 
Section 3. Governing Principles on Government Procurement. 
All procurement of the national government, its departments, 
bureaus, offices and agencies, including state universities and 
colleges, 
government 
-owned 
and/or-controlled 
corporations, 
government financial institutions and local government units, shall, in 
all cases, be governed by these principles: 
(a) Transparency in the procurement process and III the 
implementation of procurement contracts .... 
(d) System of accountability where both· the public officials 
directly or indirectly involved in the procurement process as well as in 
the implementation of procurement contracts and the private parties 
that deal with government are, when warranted by circumstances, 
investigated and held liable for their actions relative thereto. 
(e) Public monitoring of the procurement process and the 
implementation of awarde,d contracts with the end in view of 
guaranteeing that these contracts are awarded pursuant to the 
provisions of this Act and its implementing rules and regulations, and 
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that all these contracts are performed strictly according to 
specifications. 
Fiscal transparency 
IS defined as the clarity, reliability, frequency, 
timeliness, and relevance of public fiscal reporting and the openness to the public 
of the government's fiscal policy-making process. Fiscal transparency is a critical 
element of effective fiscal management. It helps ensure that the government's 
economic decisions are informed by a shared and accurate assessment of the 
current fiscal position, the costs and benefits of any policy changes, and the 
potential risks to the fiscal outlook. Fiscal transparency also provides legislatures, 
markets, and citizens with the information they need to make efficient financial 
decisions and to hold the government accountable for its fiscal performance and 
utilization of public resources. Finally, fiscal transparency facilitates international 
surveillance of fiscal developments. and helps mitigate the transmission of fiscal 
spillovers between countries. l 
Recently, six whistle-blowers implicated five senators and 23 congressmen 
in what NB1 investigators are calling the "mother of all scams." The Priority 
Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel of these legislators allegedly 
bank-rolled multibillion-peso ghost projects, with fake NGOs acting as conduits 
for the funds. The pork barrel scandal has revived calls for the abolition of the 
PDAF, or at the very least, more stringent rules to ensure transparency and 
accountability in the use of the funds. 
I International Monetary Fund, "Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Risk," 2 August 2012. 
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How legislators get kickbacks from PDAF 
The PDAF or pork barrel system has turned government into a "grand 
conspiracy of executive and legislative agencies fused in circles of kickbacks, 
corruption, patronage politics, and wasteful spending.,,2 
Under the PDAF system, the known tasks of lawmakers are only to identify 
what projects they want funded at the start and monitor the project completion. The 
Department of Budget and Management "downloads" the funds to executive 
departments, government corporations, or local government units that are the 
implementing agencies of pork projects. They are tasked to bid, award, and 
implement a multitude of largely small contracts. 
In the case of the recent PDAF~ scam, the Commission on Audit found that 
the contracts were awarded to bogus NGOs, who pocketed the money but did not 
deliver on their services nor completed the project they were contracted for. The 
implicated legislators allegedly got large commissions or "kickbacks" from these 
bogusNGOs. 
Other potential sources of 'kickbacks: lump-sums funds, special purpose· 
funds, etc. 
However, the PDAF is not the only government fund that could be a 
possible source of kickbacks. Executive department heads have access and 
discretion over huge sums. For instance, the Vice President has annual pork which 
is equivalent to what each of the senators receives. 
2 Mangahas, Malou, "Scam, no! PDAF a'mafia' of executive& legislature," http://pcij.orglstories/scam-no-pdaf-a-
mafia-o f-executi ve-Iegislaturel 
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There are other pork-like lump-sum funds in the national budget. According 
to University of the Philippines professor and former national treasurer Leonor 
Magtolis Briones, in the General Appropriations Act for 2013, about P317.5 billion 
in special purpose funds or SPFs and P1l7.5 billion in unprogrammed funds were 
proposed. Nearly all was approved in the enacted budget. Because these were "not 
as detailed and specific as the budget proposals of regular agencies," Briones 
warned that these were "vulnerable to reductions, transfers, and 'adjustments,'" 
since these were lump-sum funds. The biggest pork-like lump-sum funds were the 
Budgetary Support to Government Corporations of P44.1 billion, the Special 
Financial Assistance to Local Government Units (LGUs) of P17.5 billion, the 
Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund of P70 billion, the Retirement Benefits 
Fund ofP70 billion, and the Priority Sopial and Economic Projects (PSEP) Fund of 
pnA billion. 
These lump-sum funds are all net of other special purpose. funds under the 
President's control. He alone may trigger the release of funds from such 
multibillion-peso lump-sums like the Contingency Fund and the Calamity Fund. 
Disbursement records on these funds have hardly been published online or 
disclosed to the citizens, despite repeated requests. 
Like pork, these funds are problematic because they are vulnerable to abuse, 
difficult to document and audit, and with accountability hard to establish.3 
3 Id 
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Hidden income of legislators 
Under the salary standardization law, a senator's annual gross salary is 
Pl,080,000. But as a member of an oversight committee, the legislator receives an 
appropriation for EME (Extraordinary and Miscellaneous Expenses) in the average 
amount of P30,000. 
Typically, a senator is a member of seven oversight 
committees. Thus, he or she receives around P2,520,000 annually in EME, which 
is more than double his or her salary. The purpose of the EME is for expenses 
incurred for meetings, public relations, office equipment, library books, etc. 
However, this is liquidated not by receipts from bona fide suppliers but by mere 
certification of the legislator. Thus, rather than being spent on the items which the 
funds were meant for, legislators can just claim they were used for legitimate items 
but pocket the funds as additional Income. 
The same modus operandi can be done with the budget received by the 
legislator for running his or her office. The 2011 eOA report shows that the 
average total budget of a regular senator was approximately P43,117,307 per 
annum. The manner of liquidation was by mere certification. It was only in 2013 
that the eOA began the process ofliquidation by official receipts. 
Officers of the Senate (the Senate President, the Senate Pro Tempore, the 
Majority Floor Leader, and Minority Floor Leader) received additional budget 
allocation, as follows: 
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Enrile 
Senate President 
P71,708,150 
or 166.30% more 
than 
a 
regular 
senator 
Estrada 
Senate 
Pro P9,354,744 
or 21.69% more 
Tempore 
than 
a 
regular 
senator 
Sotto 
Majority 
Floor P9,330,700 
or 21.64% 
more 
Leader 
than 
a 
regular 
senator 
Cayetano 
Minority 
Floor PI 0,208, 184 
or 23.67% more 
Leader 
than 
a 
regular 
senator 
The question is on the manner ofliquidation. Were these additional amounts 
subjected to stricter accountability and review rules, that is, were they required to 
be liquidated by receipts and oth~r documentation or by mere certification by the 
officers of the Senate? 
Fiscal transparency 
This bill is patterned after the U.S. Federal Funding Accountability and 
Transparency Act (FFATA). The FFTA was enacted in 2006 to address wasteful 
government spending. The intent is to empower every American with the ability to 
hold the government accountable for each spending decision. The end result is to 
reduce wasteful spending in the government. The FF AT A legislation requires 
information on federal awards (federal financial assistance and expenditures) be 
made available to the public' via a single, searchable website, which is-
www.USASpending.gov. 
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In the Philippines, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has a 
website where information on the PDAF is posted. 
The projects which were 
chosen for funding by each legislator are listed, along with a brief project 
description and the project proponent, which could be a government agency or a 
local government unit. However, this information is insufficient. As shown by the 
recent PDAF scandal involving bogus NGOs and ghost projects, information on 
government projects should be as comprehensive as possible and easily accessible 
to the public, to guard against wasteful or corrupt public spending. 
This bill mandates the Secretary of Budget and Management to maintain a 
single searchable website which can be accessed by the public and which contains 
relevant information on PDAF projects and all other projects receiving government 
funding to ensure transparency and accountability in government spending. 
Lw,- 4k ... ;.-. ,~.~ 
#" MIRIAM DEFWSOR sAN1fAGO 
I 
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.:Srmlh> 
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
j~H,rl' of t~i.' >trt"Yl'br, 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
'13 
SEP -3 Al1 :02 
SENATE 
S. No.· 
1488 
. 
.' 
~ 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
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AN ACT 
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REQUIRING FULL DISCLOSURE OF ALL ENTITIES AND 
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ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVING FUNDING FROM THE GOVERNMENT 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled: 
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SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be lmown as the "Government 
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Funding Accountability and Transparency Act." 
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SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to uphold 
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the Constitutional right of the people to information on matters of public concern. 
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Towards this end, access to information pertaining to government financial awards 
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and expenditures shall be afforded our citizens to ensure transparency and 
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accountability in public spending. 
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SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the terrn~ 
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(A) 
"Entity or entities" include~ 
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(1) 
departments, instrumentalities, and agencies of the national 
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government; 
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(2) 
local government units; 
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(3) 
government-owned or -controlled corporations; 
(4) 
whether for profit or nonprofit: corporations, associations, 
organizations, partnerships, limited liability partnerships, sole 
proprietorships, other legal business entities, grantees or 
contractors, and subcontractors or subgrantees; 
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(B) 
"Government award or government funding" means government 
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financial assistance and expenditures that-
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(1) 
include 
grants, 
subgrants, 
loans, 
awards, 
cooperative 
agreements, and other forms of financial assistance; 
(2) 
include allotments from the Priority Development Assistance 
Fund (PDAF); 
(3) 
include contracts, .subcontracts, purchase orders, task orders, 
and delivery orders; and 
(4) 
do not include individual transactions below One Million Pesos 
Pl,OOO,OOO.OO, except as provided under Section 3 (A) (14); 
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(C) 
"Searchable website" means a website that allows the public to search 
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and aggregate government funding by any element required by section 3 (A); 
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ascertain through a single search the total amount of government funding awarded 
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to an entity by a government award, by fiscal year; ascertain through a single 
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search the total amount of government funding awarded to an entity by 
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government award, by fiscal year; and download data included in the outcome 
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from searches. 
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SECTION 3. Government Funding Website.-
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(A) 
In General. - Not later than 1 January 2014, the Department of Budget 
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and Management (DBM) shall ensure the existence and operation of a single 
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searchable website, accessible by the public at no cost to access, that includes for 
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each government award-
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(1) 
the name ofthe entity receiving the award; 
(2) 
if the entity receiving the award 
IS a nongovernment 
organization, corporation, association, partnership, or other 
nongovernment entity, its corporate name, business address, 
and the names of its directors or trustees and officers; 
(3) 
the intended beneficiaries of the award; 
(4) 
the amount ofthectward; 
(5) 
information on the award, including transaction type, funding 
agency, implementing agency, program source, and an award 
title descriptive of the purpose of each funding action; 
(6) 
ifthe award consists of allotment(s) from the PDAF, the name 
of the legislator who authorized the funding of the project; 
(7) 
information on the 
contractor(s), 
subcontractor(s), 
and 
supplier(s), including corporate or business name, business 
address, and the names of the proprietor(s), directors or trustees, 
and officers; 
(8) 
the location of the entity receiving the award and the primary 
location of performance under the award, including the 
barangay, 
city 
or municipality, 
province, 
regIOn, 
and 
congressional district; 
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(9) 
a unique identifier of the entity receiving the award and of the 
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parent entity of the recipient, should the entity be owned by 
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another entity; 
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(10) status of the contract, project, or program-whether in progress 
or completed; 
(11) disbursements/awards/contracts made through Special Purpose 
Funds, such as but not limited to the Budgetary Support to 
Government Corporations, Special Financial Assistance to 
Local Government Units (LGUs), Miscellaneous Personnel 
Benefits Fund, Retirement Benefits Fund, and Priority Social 
and Economic Projects (PSEP) Fund; 
(12) 
disbursement/a~ar~s/contracts made through Special Purpose 
Funds under the control ofthe President, such as but not limited 
to the Contingency Fund and Calamity Fund; 
(13) disbursement/awards/contracts made from Internal Revenue 
Allotment to local government units; 
(14) disbursement/awards/contracts made from any lump-sum fund 
appropriated to the office of any public officer, such as but not 
limited to Extraordinary and Miscellaneous Expenses and 
Capital Outlay, regardless ofthe amount involved; 
(15) liquidation of Extraordinary and Miscellaneous Expenses by 
public officers; and , 
(16) liquidation of budget allotted for the office of public officers; 
and 
(17) any other relevant information specified by the DBM. 
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(B) 
Scope of Data. - The website shall include data for the fiscal year 
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2013, and each fiscal year thereafter. 
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(C) 
Designation of Agencies. - The Secretary of Budget and Management 
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is authorized to designate one or more government departments, agencies, and 
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instrumentalities to participate in the development, establishment; operation, and 
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support of the single website. In the initial designation, or in subsequent 
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instructions and guidance, the Secretary may specify the scope of the 
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responsibilities of each department, agency, or instrumentality. 
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(D) 
Agency Responsibilities. - Government departments, agencies, and 
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instrumentalities shall comply with the instructions and guidance issued by the 
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Secretary of Budget and Management under paragraph (C), and shall provide 
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appropriate assistance to the Secretary, upon request, so as to assist the Secretary in 
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ensuring the existence and operation of the single website. 
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(E) 
Website. - The website established under this section-
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(1) shall provide an opportunity for the public to provide input about-
the utility of the site and recommendations for improvements; and 
(2) shall be updated not later than thirty (30) days after the award of a 
government award requiring a posting. 
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(F) 
Construction. - Nothing in this Act shall prohibit the DBM from 
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including through the website established under this section access to data that is 
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publicly available in any other government database. 
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(G) 
Report. - The Secretary .of Budget and Management shall submit to 
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the appropriate committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives an 
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annual report regarding the implementation of the website established under this 
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section. Each report shall include data regarding the usage and public feedback on 
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the utility of the site (including recommendations for improving data quality and 
collection); and an assessment of the reporting burden placed on government 
award recipients. The DBM shall make each report submitted under this paragraph 
publicly available on the website established under this section. 
SECTION 4. Appropriations. -
Such amount as IS necessary for the 
immediate implementation of this Act is hereby appropriated from the national 
treasury. Thereafter, the funds necessary for the implementation of this Act shall 
be sourced from the regular appropriations of the Department of Budget and 
Management. 
SECTION 5. Implementing, Rules and Regulations. - Not later than sixty 
(60) days from the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of Budget and 
Management, after consultation with the appropriate government agencies and 
other stakeholders, shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to 
implement this Act. 
SECTION 6. Sepambllity cIJ1: .. If ""y pm,;<ion '" part thoreof i< hold 
invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder ofthe law or the provision not otherwise 
affected shall remain valid and subsisting. 
SECTION 7. Repealing .Clause .. -
All laws,. presidential decrees or_ 
issuances, executive orders, letters of instruction, administrative orders, rules, and 
regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby 
repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 
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SECTION 8. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
2 
following its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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