Can't Buy Sheltered Workshop Mooncakes Due to Cuts and Freezes in Presidential Discretionary Fund? Chan Jiang-cun Reveals Budget Truth, Slams: 'Green Camp's Deliberate Political Manipulation'

The presidential discretionary fund was recently cut by NT$10 million and frozen by NT$20 million by Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. In response, the Presidential Office announced that its original plan to pre-purchase mooncakes from 37 sheltered workshops could not proceed due to the budget cuts and freeze, sparking widespread public discussion.

In response, Kuomintang Taoyuan City Councilor Chan Jiang-cun posted on Facebook today (24th), questioning that the discretionary fund is not solely used for purchasing products from sheltered workshops. He emphasized that the Presidential Office can adjust procurement priorities based on actual needs and criticized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for deliberately linking the budget cuts to sheltered workshop Mid-Autumn Festival orders as a form of political manipulation.

The Legislative Yuan recently passed a proposal by KMT legislator Weng Hsiao-ling and others to reduce the Presidential Office's annual NT$300 million discretionary fund by NT$100 million and freeze NT$200 million. The Presidential Office stated this affects funding previously used for gift boxes and慰问 to vulnerable and social welfare groups, forcing the cancellation of this year's procurement of 15,000 Mid-Autumn gift boxes from 37 sheltered workshops.

Chan Jiang-cun pointed out that expenditures from the discretionary fund include various purposes such as visits,慰问, and gifts. Besides sheltered workshop products, funds may also be used for fruit baskets, agricultural specialties, seafood, or other gift boxes. He stressed that the Legislative Yuan reduced the overall discretionary budget, not specifically 'cutting procurement funds for sheltered workshops.' Therefore, after budget constraints, the Presidential Office should still reassess the priority of various expenditures.

Chan further argued that the government already has regulations mandating priority procurement from disability welfare institutions, organizations, and sheltered workshops. Thus, under limited funding, the Presidential Office could reduce other gift or procurement items and prioritize maintaining orders from sheltered workshops instead of canceling them outright.

Therefore, Chan questioned that if the Presidential Office still has other gift box or related expenditures, it should readjust procurement priorities to allocate limited resources to sheltered workshops first, rather than blaming the opposition party entirely for the inability to purchase products due to budget cuts. He criticized the DPP for deliberately linking the frozen discretionary fund to sheltered workshop Mid-Autumn orders as political manipulation.

More exclusive insights from Storm Media: ‧ Where did the annually allocated budget for the vulnerable go? The Office uses discretionary funds to buy mooncakes—Hsieh Han-pin slams: 'Proves the opposition cut rightly' ‧ Can't the discretionary fund buy 15,000 mooncakes for the vulnerable? Li Lai-hsi raises one question, slamming: 'Incompetence in governance is evident' ‧ Can't buy sheltered workshop mooncake gift boxes due to frozen discretionary fund? Huang Kuo-chang slams Lai Ching-te: 'With a salary of NT$460,000, just pay from your own pocket'