FIRST; MIDNIGHT APPOINTMENTS, NOW;MIDNIGHT EXPENSES!!!!!!!

The Arroyo administration made "surprise" expenditures to its last day on June 30 that the government will likely breach the revised deficit ceiling of P178.5 billion for the first half of the year.

Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad disclosed the information Tuesday after the weekly Cabinet meeting in Malacañang, saying the Budget and Management Department (DBM) is now looking at the "billions" of pesos the Arroyo administration spent in its last few days in office.

It was "likely" that the government breached the January-June deficit ceiling set by former Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, he said.

"Well, you know, there were still surprises in the expenses, expenditures made up to the last month, up to the end of June, June 30," Abad said when asked if there was a marked increase in spending during the last days of the Arroyo administration.

Abad said the expenses included "congressional initiatives."

His department is now checking into which projects benefited from the last minute expenses of the Arroyo administration.

At noon on June 30, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo turned over the reins of government to then President elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III

The Office of the President through the DBM approves the proposed recipients of lawmakers' Priority Development Assistance Fund, also known as pork barrel. Each senator gets P200 million in pork barrel a year, while congressmen get P70 million each.

Given the tight fiscal situation, Abad said the government might have to resort to foreign borrowings if revenue collection targets are not met.

In a separate ambush interview at the Palace, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the deficit figures for the first half of the year would likely be released Wednesday.

Asked whether the numbers would be a cause for concern, Purisima said the Aquino administration is trying to "look forward.

"We believe that what's past is past and we cannot do anything about it, so what's important to us is what we will do over the next six months which we have declared, and what we'll do over the next six years," said Purisima. —VS, GMANews.TV