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Not one but two laws of martial law vintage are gnawing away at the
supposedly inherent power of Congress to appropriate. Besides
Presidential Decree 1177 that ostensibly seeks to reform the budget
process, another Marcos-era issuance, PD 1597, contributes to the
continuing erosion of Congress’s power of the purse.
PD 1177 grants Malacañang the power to cut and
realign items in the executive budget and provides for the automatic
appropriation of debt services. With this power, the annual budget
ceases to look like the one passed by Congress after so much hard
work. Malacañang can refuse to release funds for projects it did
not like, even if these are favored by congressmen or senators. With
its automatic appropriation, the payment of debts often went higher
than the amount pegged in the budget.
PD 1597, on the other hand, gives the President
the authority to grant government employees allowances, honoraria
and other fringe benefits. Malacanang has interpreted PD 1597 to
mean that it can increase the salaries of those in government even
without legislation.
In March 2007, President Arroyo issued
Administrative Order 144 granting government employees a 10-percent
hike in pay and a P1,000 increase in the monthly allowances for
soldiers and policemen. It is noteworthy that before she issued the
EO, the 2007 national budget pending before a bicameral committee
had also recommended the same increase in pay and allowances. The EO
appropriated P10.3 billion for the pay and allowances hike for 2007.
Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. defended the
legality of AO 144, saying it is authorized under PD 1597.
President Arroyo is not the first president
after Marcos to invoke PD 1597. President Fidel V. Ramos invoked it
to increase the monthly allowance of those in government by P500,
and by President Joseph Estrada in 1999 to increase the subsistence
allowance for uniformed personnel.
Unfunded laws
Another graphic picture on the continuing
erosion of Congress’s power of the purse is the big number of laws
that could not be implemented for lack of funds. Sen. Loren Legarda
recalled that when R.A. 8550, the Fisheries Code, was enacted in
1998, it required a funding of P1.6 billion.
“But since its enactment, not a portion of the
required funding has been released,” she moaned.
Loren wondered why there is lack of urgency in
implementing important pieces of legislation like the Fisheries
Code, the People’s Investment Fund, the establishment of
congressional, city and municipal libraries and barangay reading
centers.
Sen. Chiz Escudero also cited Republic Act 9227
as one of the unfunded laws. The law grants additional compensation
for justices, judges and all other positions in the judiciary with
the equivalent rank of justices of the Court of Appeals and judges
of the Regional Trial Court.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, chairman of the Senate
Committee on Finance, estimates that the total amount of legislative
authorization in various laws passed by Congress for expenditure
amount to P500 billion. He blamed lawmakers for passing laws without
determining how to fund them.
“The government cannot allocate funds to
programs provided for in laws that do not identify their funding
source,” JPE stressed.
He said that Congress has to get the Bureau of
Treasury to identify the source of funds to support statutory grants
but if there are no funds available, the laws shall remain unfunded
until the executive department provides them.
JPE pointed out that while authors of the
statutes consider them as important projects for the government, the
administration might decide things according to its perception of
what society needs “given the limited resources of government and
the need to prioritize and allocate funds for projects.”
Noynoy to clarify rules
Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd called to
say that he intends to clarify when session resumes on whether the
Senate can pass a House bill without a counterpart bill authored by
a senator. I had twitted him on this issue when he rejected the
consideration of a House bill resetting the barangay elections. He
insisted, however, that Senate rules buttress his stand. He said he
wants the Senate Committee on Rules to make a definitive stand on
the issue to avert any future controversy.
Noynoy also justified his motion that JPE defer
the consideration of the Civil Aeronautics Administration bill. He
said that he had not studied the amendments introduced to the Malacañang-certified
bill, and he could not vote intelligently on third and final reading
without reviewing the amendments.
“I cannot vote on a bill sight unseen,” he
told this corner.
While JPE rejected Noynoy’s motion, he agreed
to reopen the period of amendments on the CAA bill. It was later
approved on third and final reading. Incidentally, Noynoy is a
member of the Senate panel to the bicam on the CAA.
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
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