Opposition Sen. Francis ‘’Chiz’’ Escudero, chairman of the Senate ways and means committee, said Wednesday the Arroyo administration managed the country’s fiscal situation “quite well but is leaving to the next government a government that is debt-ridden.”

The Arroyo government is, likewise, mired in high deficit as Congress mulls the fate of the Arroyo administration’s proposed P1.5 trillion national budget for 2010 when it resumes regular session on Monday.

Escudero said the Arroyo administration “is a government that has no other way by which to fund the national budget other than borrowing or imposing new taxes” and the next government will inherit a big headache.

Meanwhile, Escudero has yet to announce his political plans even as the Nov.30 deadline for the filing for candidacies for national positions approaches.

Last Oct. 27, the senator resigned as a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), dousing expectations that he would be the NPC’s presidential bet in the 2010 national elections.

This developed as Escudero said the resignation of Sixto Exquivias IV as Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) commissioner for failure to meet the BIR’s revenue collection target was the right thing to do “if he cannot work, if there are limitations imposed on him or any consideration he was ordered to do.’’

What should be investigated are those at the BIR who continue to sit on their chairs doing nothing while being paid salaries by taxpayers, he said.