Gov’t phone bill surges to P3.7B
Inquirer News Service
THE communication bill of the government surged to P3.724 billion in 2004 due mainly to the increased use of mobile phones by various government agencies, government-owned and -controlled corporations and local government units.
Sen. Ralph Recto yesterday said this was 14 percent or P447 million higher than the P3.277 billion communication bill incurred in 2003.
Communication expenses include postage, landline, mobile phone, Internet, cable and telegraph use.
Last year, national agencies shelled out some P1.897 billion in communication expenses, up from P1.666 billion in 2003; GOCCs, P1.116 billion from P967 million, and LGUs, P710 million from P644 million.
Recto, chair of the Senate committee on ways and means, attributed the rise in communication expenses to the increase in mobile phone expenses of various government agencies.
The mobile phone bill of the national government agencies shot up from P168 million in 2003 to P251 million in 2004; while LGUs more than doubled their expense from P72.6 million in 2003 to P163 million in 2004.
The Commission on Audit’s report, which Recto used as a basis for his findings, however, did not contain a breakdown of the communication expenses of GOCCs.
“But it is safe to assume that more techno-savvy friends in the GOCC sector increased their mobile phone use,’’ Recto said in a statement.
While telephone bills were steadily rising, expenses for postage declined, with the national government shelling out P176 million in 2004, down from P199 million the previous year, and the LGUs disbursing P21 million last year, down from P25 million in 2003, for stamps, Recto said.
He also noted that a growing number of government offices were “hitting the information highway’’ to transmit communications.
The LGUs’ Internet subscription costs tripled to P19 million in 2004 from the previous year, while the national government agencies’ subscription expenses rose by 25 percent to P159 million in 2004.
TJ Burgonio
THE communication bill of the government surged to P3.724 billion in 2004 due mainly to the increased use of mobile phones by various government agencies, government-owned and -controlled corporations and local government units.
Sen. Ralph Recto yesterday said this was 14 percent or P447 million higher than the P3.277 billion communication bill incurred in 2003.
Communication expenses include postage, landline, mobile phone, Internet, cable and telegraph use.
Last year, national agencies shelled out some P1.897 billion in communication expenses, up from P1.666 billion in 2003; GOCCs, P1.116 billion from P967 million, and LGUs, P710 million from P644 million.
Recto, chair of the Senate committee on ways and means, attributed the rise in communication expenses to the increase in mobile phone expenses of various government agencies.
The mobile phone bill of the national government agencies shot up from P168 million in 2003 to P251 million in 2004; while LGUs more than doubled their expense from P72.6 million in 2003 to P163 million in 2004.
The Commission on Audit’s report, which Recto used as a basis for his findings, however, did not contain a breakdown of the communication expenses of GOCCs.
“But it is safe to assume that more techno-savvy friends in the GOCC sector increased their mobile phone use,’’ Recto said in a statement.
While telephone bills were steadily rising, expenses for postage declined, with the national government shelling out P176 million in 2004, down from P199 million the previous year, and the LGUs disbursing P21 million last year, down from P25 million in 2003, for stamps, Recto said.
He also noted that a growing number of government offices were “hitting the information highway’’ to transmit communications.
The LGUs’ Internet subscription costs tripled to P19 million in 2004 from the previous year, while the national government agencies’ subscription expenses rose by 25 percent to P159 million in 2004.
TJ Burgonio
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