An opposition lawmaker on Tuesday called for a bicameral congressional oversight committee on foreign loans.
Party-List Rep. Gary Alejano made the call amid reports that the Duterte administration is negotiating billions of dollars in loans from China.
“While we recognize the power given to the President when it comes to incurring loans meant to spur growth and promote equity in the provision of public services and benefits, we should ensure transparency and accountability on all government borrowings.
“Hence, I proposed the creation of a Congressional Oversight Committee on Debt Management to institutionalize an effective check and balance on the executive power to contract and guarantee loans,” Alejano, said.
The Bureau of Treasury reported that as of December 2018, the country’s outstanding debt stood at ₱7.3 trillion—up 9.6 percent from ₱6.7 trillion in 2017 amid higher domestic and foreign borrowings.
The BOT said external borrowings accounted for the biggest chunk of the total debt, growing by 13.8 percent or ₱304.45 billion to ₱2.51 trillion from the same period in 2017.
Given this, Alejano is pushing for the creation of a Congressional Oversight Committee on Debt Management as contained in his House Bill 8480.
“HB 8480 shall endeavor and pursue a debt management system that shall be made available to public scrutiny and subject to strict adherence to existing pertinent laws and rules and regulation,” he said.
The Committee shall be composed of the Chairpersons of the Committee on Ways and Means of the Senate and the House of Representatives and three (3) additional members from each chamber to be designated by the Senate President and the House Speaker respectively. One of the said three additional members shall come from the minority of each chamber.
“In the face of various issues affecting our various loans from China that are believed to be onerous, it is only but proper that the Legislature should be appraised of the conditions that accompanied the loans,” Alejano said.
“We also need to ensure that our government’s limited resources shall be used appropriately, and that priority should be given to education, health care, and other public services meant to promote the welfare of Filipinos,” he added.
