Iginagalang ni House Ways and Means Committee Chair Joey Salceda ang ihahaing petisyon sa Korte Suprema tungkol sa pagtataas sa halaga ng unprogrammed funds sa 2024 National Budget.
Aniya, normal na maghain ng petisyon sa Supreme Court ang sinoman na may kwestyon sa anomang batas at kasama na dito ang pambansang pondo.
Ngunit ayon sa mambabatas, sa ginawang budget deliberation ay isinangguni na nila ang naturang isyu sa Department of Budget and Management (DBM) at sa records ng Constitutional Commission na siyang bumuo ng Saligang Batas.
Sinabi ni Salceda, nilinaw ng DBM na ang unprogrammed appropriations ay hindi bahagi ng fiscal program.
Kaya ang sakop lamang ng limitasyon ng Article 6 Section 25 paragraph 1 ng Konstitusyon o ang pagbabawal na taasan o higitan ang budget na inirekomenda ng Pangulo, ay ang programmed appropriations.
Punto pa nito na ang naturang probisyon sa Saligang Batas ay para hindi lagpasan ng Kongreso ang fiscal deficit na inilatag ng Presidente at ito aniya ay kinatigan na ng SC sa kasong Sarmiento vs. Treasurer of the Philippines.
“At its core, the logic of the Constitutional provision is simple: Congress should not overstep the fiscal deficit programmed by the President. Indeed, this view is affirmed by the Supreme Court, in Sarmiento vs. the Treasurer of the Philippines [G.R. No. 125680 & 126313.September 4, 2001], which also cites the records of the Constitutional Commission. In the words of the Constitutional Commissioner Christian Monsod, it is to ensure that the budget does not “put the government in debt or in deficit.” (Vol 2, p. 188 of the Records of the Constitutional Commission),” ani Salceda.
“In fact, Article VII, Section 22 also specifies that the President shall submit a Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing as the basis for the budget. Taken in this light, the Constitutional limit to increases in programmed appropriations make sense as it applies to the BESF. When in excess of the BESF, there is no limitation imposed on Congress, and its power of the purse, long respected by the Supreme Court, is supreme,” dagdag paliwanag ng mambabatas.
Tinukoy pa ni Salceda na mismong si dating Senate President Franklin Drilon ay dinepensahan ang pagtaas sa unprogrammed appropriations bilang constitutional. | ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes
