Military upgrade bill OK’d
THE PRIORITY measure upgrading the military has hurdled the bicameral conference committee, with possible ratification by Congress on Tuesday and enactment in three weeks.
"I hope we can ratify it at the floor of both Houses on Tuesday," Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, Senate panel chairman, said in an ambush interview yesterday, referring to the reconciled version of Senate Bill No. 3164 and House Bill No. 6140, which outline the 15-year program modernizing the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
"Hopefully a week or two later, the President signs it," Mr. Lacson added.
The reconciled version provides a budget "of at least ₱75 billion for the first five years."
The previous program, under Republic Act No. (RA) 7898, ended in 2010.
Members of the committee agreed in a meeting on Wednesday to delete questionable provisions that run the risk of a presidential veto, including sourcing the modernization fund from the Malampaya oil and gas exploration.
The Senate, contrary to the version of the House of Representatives, did not include such funding source due to opposition from the departments of Energy, and Budget and Management.
The House version states that "a reasonable amount from the share of the national government in the Malampaya oil and gas exploration and such other similar or related explorations for energy" will fund the upgrade program.
Mr. Lacson, in an interview after the meeting late Wednesday, said the provision was deleted as the term "reasonable amount" is "vague" in terms of amount.
The bill establishes a trust fund that will finance the modernization program, which will include proceeds from the sale of military reservations; lease or joint development of military reservations; lease and/or joint-venture agreements; public-private partnerships entered into by the Department of National Defense or the AFP; and sale of the products of the government arsenal, and donations coming from local and foreign sources specifically earmarked to be used for the AFP modernization program.
Mr. Lacson also cited another funding source for the bill, namely, Executive Order No. 848, which states that "(t)he Department of Budget and Management is hereby authorized to release funds, in such amount as may be necessary, from the SAGF-151 (Special Account in the General Fund-Fund 151) of the DoE (Department of Energy), to the implementing agency concerned, for purposes as may be authorized by the President of the Philippines."
The committee, meanwhile, also deleted the provision to exempt from bidding the purchase of major defense equipment, namely, aircraft, vessels, tanks, armored vehicles, communication equipment, radar systems and high-powered firearms.
Mr. Lacson, in a separate phone interview yesterday, said the deleted provision was "redundant" to the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of RA 9184, or the Procurement Law.
The revised IRR states that negotiated procurement "is a method of procurement of goods, infrastructure projects and consulting services, whereby the procuring entity directly negotiates a contract with a technically, legally and financially capable supplier, contractor or consultant," and applies "when the procurement for use by the AFP involves major defense equipment."
Re: AFP Modernization in Full Swing
We're on the roll now....Military upgrade bill OK’d
Originally Posted by balipseyev
Reply With Quote
