THE Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the Palace and Congress to comment on another petition filed before it questioning the constitutionality of Republic Act 10651, or the 2015 General Appropriations Act (GAA), and the supplemental budget due to the existence of lump sums and discretionary funds amounting to almost half of the P2.6-trillion national budget.
SC Spokesman Theodore Te said the magistrates issued a resolution during last Tuesday’s en banc giving due course to the petition filed by former Biliran Rep. Glenn Chiong, taxpayer Manuelito Luna, college sophomore student Aristarchus Lamarck Luna and Samahang Magbabasura Inc.
“In relation to the 2015 budget and supplemental budget, the Court required respondents to comment within a period of 10 days from receipt of the resolution on a third petition,” the Court said.
Named respondents in the petition were Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad, Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.
In their petition, they argued that the 2015 GAA is unconstitutional as it had been passed with Congress handing over all its power over public funds to the Executive department, citing, among others, the draft national expenditure program
The petitioners noted that among those lump-sum appropriations they are questioning are the P2-billion contingent fund; P1 billion allocated for the rehabilitation and reconstruction program; P31.1-billion allocations to local government units; P7.4-billion international commitment funds; P118.1-billion miscellaneous personnel benefits funds; P140.6-billion pension and gratuity funds; and the P372.9-billion debt service fund.
“Due to the innumerable and significant lump sums in the 2015 GAA, a considerable number of which are automatically appropriated, Congress’s vaunted spending power has had become illusory; and that Congress itself had become a surplusage,” the petition stated.
The petition added that “legislators’ “pork barrel” funds were cleverly inserted into the requirements of the Department of Public Works and Highways and other national government agencies by the Department of Budget and Management, upon requests of individual congressional representatives and indorsed either by the Committee on Appropriations or by the Office of the Speaker, for the lower house, and with respect to the members of the Senate either by the Committee on Finance or by the Office of the Senate President.
However, Te earlier announced that the Court dismissed two petitions filed by former Rep. Augusto Syjuco of Iloilo seeking to invalidate the Republic Act 10652, a law providing a supplemental budget for the national government.
Te said the magistrates decided to dismiss both petitions during their regular en banc session also on Tuesday for lack of merit.
The Court also dismissed the petition for being premature as it failed to allege any specific expenditure, fund release or any executive act or issuance to the effect.
1 comment
Thank God that there still a few good men – like Atty. Luna,, ex-Rep. Chong, college student Aristarchus and members of Samahang Magbabasura, Inc. – who love this country much.