Malacañang said Saturday that the country’s budget deficit ratios are “still manageable” amid the release of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel allocations made by the Department of Budget and Managament (DBM).

Deputy presidential spokesperson Gary Olivar dispelled that the front-loading of the pork barrel funds would further worsen the country’s budget deficit as claimed by Liberal Party (LP) senatorial candidate Ralph Recto. As of February 2010, the country’s budget deficit stood at 33.2 billion, which is more than P4 billion-increase from last year’s P29 billion. “We are doing what we can. The budget deficit issue is much more complicated issue than that; deficit ratios are still manageable. Under the term of the President, they have come down every year,” he told over government-run DzRB.

He appealed to opposition from stop injecting political color into the release of the funds, saying that it is only intended to benefit the people and there was nothing irregular with it.

Olivar even noted that the release was prompted by the President’s persistence that all her projects should be completed before her term expires on June 30. (Charissa M. Luci)