Malacañang on Thursday assured it will veto, as it did in the 2015 budget, any attempt by lawmakers to reinsert provisions that would revive the pork barrel in the proposed P3-trillion 2016 national budget bill that President Aquino submitted to Congress early this week.
Communications Secretary Herminio B. Coloma Jr., at a Palace briefing on Thursday, reaffirmed Mr. Aquino’s determination to thumb down budget insertions disguising pork-barrel allocations that would be approved as amendments by Congress in the 2016 budget.
Coloma recalled the presidential veto of such provisions in Congress-approved 2015 budget, adding that Mr. Aquino is likely to take it down again. Coloma said: “Ang Pangulo po ay nag-issue ng veto message sa 16th Congress hinggil sa General Appropriations Act of 2015 at ito ang kanyang ipinahayag tungkol sa local government unit [LGU] shares. I will quote from the veto message: ‘The succeeding provisions on LGU shares are properly placed under conditional implementation to avoid conflict with existing laws and jurisprudential rules, and ensure their orderly execution.”
Coloma pointed out that the vetoed provision was seen to be a revival of the so-called Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for lawmakers that had been outlawed by the Supreme Court (SC), adding that President Aquino’s veto was done in compliance with the High Tribunal’s ruling. “Kaya malinaw po na sinusunod ng pamahalaan ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema dahil tungkulin po ng Ehekutibo na ipatupad ang mga batas ng bansa.” The secretary cited a case filed by Manila Councilor Greco Belgica in which the SC ruled against “any post-enactment intervention of legislators in the implementation of the budget.”
“Iyon po ’yung kaso na kung saan ay nagpasya ang Korte Suprema hinggil doon sa PDAF, ’yung Priority Development Assistance Fund,” Coloma explained. “Idineclare [declare] po nila [SC Justices] na unconstitutional ito kaya tinanggal na po lahat ’yon doon sa 2014 budget at doon sa sumunod na 2015 budget ay nag-issue nga po ng ganitong veto message dahil kasama doon sa ipinasang budget ng Kongreso.”
Informed about reports that former Sen. Panfilo Lacson was preparing to file a new petition for prohibition at the SC against some provisions in the 2015 budget, Coloma said the Palace would await its outcome and comply with the SC ruling. Lacson said he has evidence that the abolished PDAF is being revived in the
new budget.
“Aantabayanan namin ang ihahaing petisyon ni Senador Lacson para mabatid ang mga kongkretong batayan ng kanyang kritisismo,” Coloma told reporters. “Kapag ipinag-utos ng korte, tungkulin ng pamahalaan na magbigay ng kaukulang katugunan.”