THE House of Representatives yesterday deferred floor deliberations on the Department of Budget and Management’s proposed national budget for 2022 because of the Executive’s alleged illegal use of annual savings and contingency funds.
This is on top of Malacañang’s questionable practice of selecting which projects will be funded regardless if these are already in the General Appropriations Act (GAA), which some lawmakers believe is also illegal since the power of the purse is exclusively a congressional power.
Defending the DBM’s budget on the floor, Quirino Rep. Junie Cua said the government has P192 billion under “for later release” or FLR funds this year, and only the Office of the President (OP) decides on the release of the funds, prompting Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo to say that the practice is unconstitutional.
“I stand by my position na tila unconstitutional po ito dahil ang power of the purse naman rests with Congress (I stand by my position that it seems unconstitutional because the power of the purse rests with Congress),” Quimbo said.
Items tagged as FLR in the annual budget can only be released upon approval of the President, the Budget Secretary, or an official acting on the Chief Executive’s authority.
Quimbo, an economist and who is member of the Liberal Party (LP) said the GAA, which contains the national budget annually reviewed and approved by Congress, “does not make a distinction what is for late release or not.”
The Supreme Court, in a 2013 ruling outlawing the old “pork barrel” system, said the post-enactment identification of projects to be funded under the GAA is illegal.
Cua partly conceded, saying “this kind of practice somehow diminishes the power of Congress.”
The veteran lawmaker however said: “If I were in the shoes of the President, and cash is a problem for me, I may have to do something like this.”
He said that in his many years in Congress, there was no such practice because the Executive and the Legislative holds preliminary discussions to avoid conflicts.
“As a legislator, I really feel that it diminishes our effectiveness. I think there is a need to really look into the process,” Cua said.
Opposition leader Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the GAA , which is a product of Congress, “is more ascendant than the NEP and if there is discrepancy between the NEP and what is approved by Congress, the latter must prevail.”
The House eventually deferred floor deliberations on the DBM’s budget on the motion of Rep. Carlos Zarate (PL, Bayan Muna) who earlier questioned the government’s decision to spend P30 million to develop a “bat cave” in Davao del Sur, P150 million to construct a cruise port in Legazpi City and a P70 million for a sports facility with a swimming pool in Sorsogon in the face of the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
“As it is, they are using funds at their leisure without Congress’ approval thereby impinging on Congress’ power of the purse, and violating its mandate,” said Zarate, whose motion was seconded by deputy speaker Juan Pablo “Rimpy” Bondoc of Pangasinan.
Zarate said the DBM’s line of reasoning in defending the practice is unacceptable, stressing that the agency, through Cua and fellow budget sponsor Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, “gave unsatisfactory answers and insisted on the legality of their actions on how the executive department used budgetary savings and contingency funds.”
The budget in question was part of the P10.3 billion unused contingency funds which he said was questionably transferred to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and used for non-COVID related and non-essential new projects.
“It appears that the Executive tried to do some budget laundering to justify this use of the funds supposedly coming from the Contingent Fund. However, the Constitution is clear: government can only augment funds for items already in the General Appropriations Act (GAA). While some new items can be funded by the Contingent Fund, these are more for unexpected expenses like travel expenses for the president or penalties arising from court decisions,” Zarate said.
Based on the submission of at least six agencies, Zarate noted there are about P57 billion savings between 2017-2020 “but we never knew this because they were not posted.”
“This is one of the reasons why it is stated in the General Appropriations Act that national savings should always be posted at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) website and reported to Congress,” he said.
