Malacañang assured Saturday the next administration that they will be able to use the entire P1.541-trillion national budget as they rejected claims that the national fund will be used by Mrs. Arroyo for her alleged “panic-spending” in this campaign season.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Gary Olivar allayed fears of the President’s critics, including her former socio-economic planning chief Ralph Recto that the Arroyo administration would engage in a panic-spending mode in last stretch of its term.

“Wag pong mag-alala si former Sec. Recto, dati pa naman siyang miyembro ng Official Family ng President (former Sec. Recto should not be worried, he was a former member of the Official Family of the President) He should know better. There will be a lot in the budget for the incoming administration and he of all people, as a former member of the official family, should notice that at the same time,” he told in an interview over government-run DzRB.

Recto said that it is inappropriate for Recto make such comment since he became part of the Official Family.

“He was one of the authors of the EVAT law and he should know how instrumental EVAT has been in stabilizing our finances — our public finances. So, you know, he should know better than to make remarks like that,” Olivar said.

This developed as National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) officials have criticized the apparent conspiracy between left-wing organizations and a notorious business group in filing a plunder complaint against President Arroyo, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and Nabcor executives based on trumped-up charges of graft in connection with the government contract to procure state-of-the-art multifunctional ice- making machines that will benefit farmers plus fisherfolk and consumers as well.

Nabcor spokesperson Kathyrin Pioquinto said Saturday that some leftist groups have mounted another ideologically-driven hatchet job on Malacañang, this time via the Department of Agriculture (DA), in an obvious bid to gain publicity and national attention in a run-up to the 2010 elections.

These leftist organizations have either wittingly or unwittingly allowed themselves to be used, she said, by a shady business group notorious for taking part in public biddings for government projects — despite being unqualified at times to participate in these processes — and later on harassing the winning bidders along with the concerned government agencies.

“The DA and Nabcor are now gathering evidence against this notorious group with an eye on exposing its nefarious schemes and possibly filing the appropriate charges against its ring leaders at the proper time,” Pioquinto said.

She said, “The filing of the plunder case before the Office of the Ombudsman is clearly a harassment suit and publicity stunt because the complaint of this notorious group in cahoots with the leftist organizations is based on fabricated and malicious charges of overpricing and bid rigging.” Pioquinto said these schemers are “like comparing apples and oranges” in comparing conventional ice making machines now used in the country with the cutting-edge equipment to be supplied by the winning bidder—Integrated Refrigeration System and Services, Inc. (IRSSI)—that are multifunctional, mobile, ecology-friendly and cost-efficient freezers using the revolutionary brine immersion freezing (BIF) and liquid quick freeze (LQF) technologies.

She said these hecklers are apparently ignorant of the superb features of these IRRS equipment utilizing the revolutionary technology that allows people to instantly freeze and preserve the quality and freshness of agricultural produce for as long as six months to a year.

Hence, she said, their graft allegations have no leg to stand on because there is no overpricing involved and the public bidding last Sept. 2 was done by the Nabcor’s Bidding and Awards Committee (BAC) in conformity with all rules and regulations as provided by law.

“And because there is no overpricing or bid rigging, then there is no ground whatsoever for the plunder charge,” Pioquinto said.