Aquino also said they discovered that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation spent P1 billion on coffee alone. He said that at the price of P100 per cup it means PAGCOR officials drank 10 million cups of coffee.
He did not say the number of years that the amount was used.
The President said that for this year the government has adopted zero-based budgeting that has reportedly ended “many wasteful programs”. He mentioned a “food-for-school program with no proper targeting of beneficiaries” and the P18.7-billion project to remove 12 million cubic meters of silt in Laguna de Bay.
Aquino also cited cuts in rice importation. He said that before he became president the country imported 2.3 million metric tons of rice which was reportedly a million metric ton more than what was actually needed.
“We even had to pay extra for warehouses to store the rice acquired through excessive importation,” he said.
He added the Philippines was able to reduce its rice shortage of 1.3 million metric tons to 660,000 metric tons by increasing production by 15.6 percent. He said the increase in production was the result of using better seedlings and careful and efficient spending on irrigation.
He said the country envisions an end to “over-importation that only serves to benefit the selfish few”.
Aquino said the government will procure weapons and other equipment for the military and police in bulk to get a significant discount.
“This goes to show how far we can go with good governance; we can buy equipment at good prices, without having to place envelopes in anyone’s pockets,” he said.
Aquino brushed aside criticisms that he was allegedly becoming personal in his effort to go after grafters, in particular against officials of the previous administration.[]
“Some of my critics say that I take this campaign against corruption personally. It’s true: doing what’s right is personal. Making people accountable – whoever they may be – is personal. It should be personal for all of us, because we have all been victimized by corruption,” he said.
He said that within the year he expects the filing of the first major case against “the corrupt and their accomplices”.[]
