Angara says bicam-approved 2024 national budget constitutional

Sen. Sonny Angara on Thursday maintained that the final version of the bill on P5.768-trillion 2024 national budget was in accordance with the 1987 Constitution.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance issued the remark after Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said that the bill for next year’s budget was unconstitutional.

Pimentel said the bicameral conference committee, which Angara co-chaired, increased the unprogrammed appropriations by P450 billion.

The Senate Minority Leader said that the P450-billion hike pushed the total amount of the 2024 budget over the P5.768 trillion national budget proposed by the Executive Department, This, he said, violated Article VI, Section 25(1) of the 1987 Constitution.

The provision states that “Congress may not increase the appropriations recommended by the President for the operation of the Government as specified in the budget. The form, content, and manner of preparation of the budget shall be prescribed by law.”

Angara, a lawyer like Pimentel, argued that this constitutional provision only referred to the programmed appropriations or the funds that are specified to fund certain projects.

“I think that refers to the programmed [appropriations] because that's definitely proposed by the Executive… If you really look at the intent of the provision, it is really to prevent congressional overreach and to prevent the Executive [Department] from spending beyond its means. But that concern is not present in the case of the unprogrammed funds because the Executive still has a lot of elbow room when it comes to the menu, so to speak, of the unprogrammed funds or the standby appropriations,” Angara said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) defines unprogrammed appropriations as those that provide standby authority to incur additional agency obligations for priority programs or projects when revenue collection exceeds targets, and when additional grants or foreign funds are generated while programmed appropriations are appropriations with definite/identified funding as of the time the budget is prepared.

Pimentel earlier said that the 1987 Constitution used the word "appropriations" in prohibiting increases in the total amount of the national budget.

Pimentel argued that unprogrammed appropriations is still an appropriation.

“Did the Constitution distinguish [between] programmed or unprogrammed? Hindi [No]. Therefore, it should apply as appropriation kasi an unprogrammed appropriation is still an appropriation,” Pimentel said.

Asked if he was worried that the 2024 General Appropriations Act’s constitutionality might be challenged, Angara said, “Anything can be questioned before the Supreme Court.”

According to Angara, the final version of the 2024 GAB is now being printed and the target is for the president to sign it next week. —NB, GMA Integrated News