Koko Pimentel blames lawmakers for 'unconstitutional' 2024 budget bill

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Monday criticized his fellow legislators for crafting an "unconstitutional" 2024 budget bill, saying they were acting like members of the executive branch.

Pimentel was insisting that the additional P450 billion unprogrammed funds in the final version of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) increased the total amount of the proposed 2024 national budget to P6.498 trillion, which he says was unconstitutional because the Executive Department’s original proposal was only P5.768 trillion.

“Feeling executive branch na ang mga legislators po natin. Maraming inisyatibong naiisip. Ilalagay ngayon sa budget. But, you know, disregarding the constitutional rule that we can concur with the budget proposed by the President, we can reduce it, but we cannot increase it,” Pimentel said on CNN Philippines.

(The legislators feel like they are members of the executive branch. They have new initiatives that they include in the budget, but they disregard the constitutional rule that we can concur with the budget proposed by the President, we can reduce it, but we cannot increase it.)

"Kung ganyan pala ang gusto ng Kongreso (if that’s what Congress wants) that we disagree with the priorities of the President, then we should have changed some of the items in the proposal of the President, but not increase the amount. Because when we increase the amount, para kaming nagiging executive branch," he added.

Veto urged

To avoid a petition before the Supreme Court, Pimentel urged the veto of the P450-billion unprogrammed fund.

"The possible remedy is for the president to veto the excess or that the budget will come back to the levels as proposed by the president. If the president does not do this therefore we have a case. This can be questioned before the Supreme Court," he said.

It was former Senator Panfilo Lacson who first raised the idea of vetoing the P450-billion increase under GAB after Pimentel tagged it as unconstitutional.

"Dapat lang i-line item veto ni PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos) ang mga unconstitutional provisions kasi pag appropriations and tax measures, pinapayagan ng Constitution ang line item veto," Lacson said in a text message to reporters.

(President Bongbong Marcos should do a line item veto on all the unconstitutional provisions of the bill. Under the Constitution, this is allowed for appropriations and tax measures.)

According to data shared by Pimentel's office, the total national budget for 2024 under the final version of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) was P6.498 trillion, composed of:

• P4.019 trillion programmed funds
• P731 billion unprogrammed funds
• P1.748 trillion automatic appropriations

Earlier, Pimentel voted against the ratification of the bill containing the proposed 2024 national budget after he questioned the unprogrammed funds and the increase in the budget for the House of Representatives.

After Pimentel raised the possible constitutional violations in the 2024 GAB, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sonny Angara maintained that the ratified version of next year's proposed national budget was constitutional.

Angara said the constitutional provision which 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" was only applicable to programmed appropriations.

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.

Programmed appropriations, on the other hand, were appropriations with definite or identified funding when the budget was prepared. — DVM/KBK, GMA Integrated News