Koko Pimentel, House solon to question 2024 nat'l budget law before SC

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and a member of the House of Representatives is set to file a petition with the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

"I'm already talking to a member of the House and he also agrees with my position. As a matter of fact, malapit ko na matapos ‘yung outline namin of the reasons why the additional P450 billion made by Congress to the level of the unprogrammed appropriations as proposed by the president is unconstitutional," Pimentel said in a virtual interview with Senate reporters.

(I’m already talking to a member of the house and he also agrees with my position. As a matter of fact, I’m about to complete our outline on the reasons why the additional P450 billion made by Congress to the level of the unprogrammed appropriations as proposed by the president is unconstitutional.)

Pimentel did not disclose who is the House lawmaker that will join him in filing the petition, but he mentioned that it is not Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.

According to Pimentel, the filing of the petition before the SC was supposed to be this week, but he explained that this will still depend on the “lawyers’ readiness.”

Last December 2023, Pimentel tagged the then-2024 General Appropriations Bill as “unconstitutional” after the bicameral conference committee increased the unprogrammed appropriations by P450 billion.

Pimentel argued that the P450-billion hike made the total amount of the 2024 budget exceed the P5.768 trillion national budget originally proposed by the Executive Department, which he emphasized was a violation of Article VI, Section 25(1) of the 1987 Constitution.

Article VI, Section 25(1) of the 1987 Constitution 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."

Lagman made a similar position on Tuesday and claimed that these unprogrammed appropriations were annually increased to accommodate partisan and pet projects.

Pimentel also backed claims that the unprogrammed appropriations were being used to fund pet projects.

“That’s correct… For 2023, nakita ko iyon may mga nakasingit doon na merong isa from Ilocos Norte, Tacloban, mayroon sa Albay. Yung mga ganon,” the minority leader said.

(For 2023, I saw that there are inserted funds from Ilocos Norte, Tacloban, and Albay.)

“Three years running na ito na dinadagdagan ng Congress ‘yung unprogrammed funds. Ang delikado diyan lalo yung mga naka-lump na amounts. Doon sa naka-lump na amounts palakasan na iyon kasi per request na yung release non,” he added.

(This practice of increasing the unprogrammed funds has been running for three years already. That is dangerous, especially the lump sum amounts because its release is based on discretion.)

Earlier, Pimentel blamed the lawmakers for the additional P450 billion during the bicameral conference committee and took a swipe at his colleagues for acting like members of the Executive Branch.

More than the need to respect the Constitution, Pimentel warned of the possible abuse in the use of unprogrammed funds.

He pointed out that there is a supplemental budget that can be requested from Congress if there is a need to fund other projects.

“Aabusuhin yung practice, ang masama ay unconstitutional pa yung practice na iyon. So, it’s a nip in the bud. Ang masama rito sa practice na ito, if there are funds available and there are important expenditures of the government, hindi ba ang mas karapat-dapat na gawin ay mag-request na lang ng supplemental budget?” he said.

(The practice will be abused. What’s worse is the practice itself is unconstitutional. So it’s a nip in the bud. What’s wrong in this practice is if there are funds available and there are important expenditures of the government, isn’t it right to just request a supplemental budget?)

“Parang na-circumvent din yung idea ng supplemental budget. The proper way, kung mayroong available na pera, the proper way to do it is to ask for a supplemental budget.

(It appears that the idea of supplemental budget has been circumvented. The proper way to do this, if there are available funds, is to ask for a supplemental budget.)

Apart from the practice of allocating unprogrammed funds, Pimentel reiterated that he will also question the certification of the measure as urgent.

Senate finance committee chairman Senator Sonny Angara, who co-chaired the bicameral conference committee, maintained that the final version of the 2024 national budget bill, which was eventually signed by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., was following the 1987 Constitution.

Angara argued earlier that this constitutional provision only referred to the programmed appropriations or the funds that are specified to fund certain projects.

Meanwhile, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said the question of whether or not unprogrammed funds were covered by the constitutional prohibition on increasing appropriations recommended by the President had been discussed in Congress.

"This question was discussed in Congress, and we took the effort, during budget deliberations, to seek guidance from both the Executive through the DBM and the records of the Constitutional Commission," Salceda said.

Salceda said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) wrote his office to clarify that  unprogrammed appropriations were not part of the fiscal program.

"As such, only the programmed appropriations are subject to Article VI, Section 25 (1) of the Constitution, or the prohibition against increasing appropriations recommended by the President," Salceda said.

"In short, the DBM said Congress can increase the unprogrammed appropriations as proposed," he added. —KBK/LDF, GMA Integrated News