THE camp of presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is accusing the government and Liberal Party candidate Mar Roxas of vote-buying through the Bottom Up Budgeting (BUB) program that Roxas started when he was the DILG secretary.
Calling the BUB as a form of bribery, the Duterte camp said that the promise of Roxas -- supported and blessed by President Benigno Aquino -- is aimed at cornering support from local officials.
Peter Lavina, spokesperson and head of Duterte media team, said that the millions of pesos of government fund under BUB is being used as a ruse into voting for Roxas.
"BUB is officially a campaign kitty of the administration bet," Lavina said.
Speaking before members of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines Wednesday, Roxas promised to allocate more funds for the BUB.
"Mar is holding the life of every Filipino hostage by dangling P1,000 at the start of his presidential campaign, conditioning it on his fate come May 9," said Peter Lavina.
Roxas said he would give P100 billion or P1,000 for every Filipino annually.
He said the amount will be for every member of the barangay.
He did not elaborate how the money is supposed to be spent, but BUB is a process that involves sectors in the identification of projects and programs.
"Clearly, the administration bet is resorting to bribery, offering money to local chief executives in the hope of winning their support," Lavina said.
"How this money is supposed to be spent under the BUB process is very questionable. The whole premise of this promise is questionable."
Roxas and Aquino also made the same promise before members of Liga ng mga Barangay meeting in Pasay Thursday.
Since its inception in 2013, the program spent P74 billion for 54,000 projects approved through participatory approach.
However, even Aquino admitted that only around 13,000 BUB projects were completed since 2013.
A television report says only three out of 10 BUB projects have been completed from the 42,211 BUB projects implemented between 2013 and 2015.
The same report states the poor implementation of the BUB projects -- with only "nearly two out of 10 are being implemented."
The report adds that 27 percent of the BUB funds went to vote-rich and progressive provinces like Cebu, Iloilo, and Pangasinan.
Duterte's spokesperson called on the local executives not to be swayed by the promises of Roxas and his ‘Tuwid na Daan' agenda, something that Duterte himself has called a sham and a "failed government."
"Let us not be fooled by this. This reeks of corruption. This early, we witness how Roxas is already trying to buy local executives by promising them rewards. He is as worse as Binay who is mired in allegations and cases of illegal wealth and corruption," Lavina said.