Congress must take blame for delay in govt pay hikes

IN THE American system of federal government, the legislators’ failure to approve the next fiscal year’s federal budget usually leads to a government shutdown. That happened at the start of this new year because of a partisan dispute over funding for a campaign promise of President Donald Trump — a great border wall between the United States and Mexico to keep illegal immigrants out.

Fortunately, such a government shutdown has not happened in the Philippines, even with a congressional deadlock over the fiscal 2019 budget and with our presidential-bicameral system patterned after that of the US. And that is because of a provision in Article VI, Section 25 of the 1987 Constitution, which states: “If, by the end of any fiscal year, the Congress shall have failed to pass the general appropriations bill for the ensuing fiscal year, the general appropriations law for the preceding fiscal year shall be deemed reenacted and shall remain in force and effect until the general appropriations bill is passed by the Congress.”