HOUSE members have filed a resolution seeking to regain the power of Congress to craft and scrutinize the national budget, as they raised their concerns over Malacañang’s insertion of lump-sum funds that has led to rampant misuse of public funds.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Committee on Accounts Chairman Eleandro Jesus Madrona, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II and Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora filed House Concurrent Resolution 10 that seeks to implement measures toward “affirming, ensuring and operationalizing the fiscal independence of the Congress of the Philippines.”
“The present budgetary policies formulated by the Executive, through the Department of Budget and Management [DBM], insofar as they apply to the Congress of the Philippines, threaten its independence, encroach on its exclusive domain and violate the principle of separation of powers, upon which the entire fabric of our constitutional system is based,” the House leaders said in a news statement released over the weekend.
The resolution also said that “the imposition by the DBM of restrictive policies, rules, procedures, guidelines and conditions relative to the release and utilization of appropriations, applicable only to executive offices and agencies on the Congress of the Philippines, is an undue encroachment on the exclusive domain of the legislature and a violation of the principle of separation of powers.”
The resolution affirmed claims of former National Treasurer and Social Watch convener Prof. Leonor Briones that the Aquino administration has “weakened and eroded” Congress’s power to craft, scrutinize and monitor spending of the national budget.
Briones said the DBM crafted the P2.606-trillion 2015 national budget, with half of the amount not going through the mandatory congressional scrutiny and monitoring.
The House leaders said in the resolution that “the Judiciary and other constitutional bodies, to safeguard and guarantee their independence, enjoy the full control of their financial affairs, while Congress is subjected to regulations similarly imposed on executive agencies.”
“The legislative power vested in the Congress of the Philippines is plenary, complete, unimpaired and subject only to such limitations as are found in the Constitution,” the resolution said.
The resolution has also lined up measures that are needed to regain the fiscal independence of Congress, based on the resolution. These include:
1. The Senate and the House shall have full autonomy in determining the appropriations required for their operations. Their budget proposals shall be submitted to the Office of the President, through the DBM, but shall not be subject to the same process of evaluation, budgetary guidelines and standards applicable to the other agencies of the national government (NG). The amount of appropriations, as proposed and determined by the Senate and the House, shall be included in the annual budget of the NG without reduction, alteration or modification.
2. The appropriations provided for the Senate and the House under the General Appropriations Act and other appropriations laws
shall be fully and automatically released, together with the corresponding Notice of Cash Allocation, by the DBM, at the start of the calendar year, without condition, limitation or restriction.
3. The Senate and the House shall enjoy flexibility in the utilization of funds appropriated for their operations.
4. The Senate President and the Speaker of the House, in accordance with the authority granted to them under the Constitution to augment any item in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations, and within the limits provided by accounting and auditing rules and regulations may use their savings for the incurrence of obligations that will enhance the operations and services of their respective offices.
5. The Senate President and the Speaker of the House, in accordance with the authority granted to them under the Constitution to augment any item in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations, may fix and determine the salaries, allowances and other benefits of their officials and employees and determine and address the budgetary requirements of their personnel, committees and service units as they may deem necessary given the exigencies and in the best interest of the service.
6. Unexpended year-end balances of approved appropriations for the Senate and the House shall remain valid and shall continue to be available for expenditure until fully spent. Cash allocations to the Senate and the House shall remain under their control and accountability, subject to accounting and auditing rules and regulations. Unexpended balances of the NCSs prior to their lapsing may be transferred to an authorized local bank account in the name of the Senate or the House.
7. Fees, receipts and income received by the Senate and the House from other sources shall be deposited in an authorized local bank to be made available for any function, projects and activity.”
8. Subject to accounting and auditing laws and rules, both Houses may adapt rules and regulations governing allocations, expenditure and utilization of funds appropriated for their operations.
The resolution also reiterated the need to implement the separation of powers, which recognizes that the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary are supreme within their own spheres and have exclusive cognizance of matter within their respective jurisdictions.
“Thus, one branch may not encroach on the domain or exercise the powers of the others,” the resolution said.