Koko allays fears on possible reenacted budget

MANILA, Philippines —  Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III yesterday asked the public not to worry about his plan to question the constitutionality of the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which could result in a reenacted budget this year.

At a virtual briefing, Pimentel reiterated his theory that the recently passed P5.768-trillion national budget is unconstitutional because of the P450-billion increase in unprogrammed appropriations beyond the executive’s spending plan.

Pimentel said the bicameral conference committee’s move to increase the unprogrammed funds from the proposed P281.9 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to P731.4 billion in the GAA is illegal because the Constitution bars Congress from increasing the national budget.

While the Supreme Court may temporarily stop the national budget once a petition is filed against it, Pimentel said the high court can also focus on the specific budgetary provision on standby funds while allowing the government to operate with the approved budget.

Should the high court issue a temporary restraining order on the 2024 budget this year – thus preventing the government from operating with this year’s budget – the country can still work with a reenacted budget, or the GAA of the previous year, Pimentel said.

“The mechanism is, if there is no budget for a certain year, the government will operate on the basis of the budget last year,” Pimentel said.

The Senate minority leader said it is about time to question the increasingly common practice of setting aside standby funds for unprogrammed projects.

Unprogrammed appropriations refer to standby funds for priority projects sourced from the government’s improved revenue collection.

Pimentel warned that the unprogrammed appropriations had lump sum amounts which could be prone to political patronage similar to the now outlawed pork barrel fund.

Instead of sneaking in a form of pork barrel in the budget, Congress should pass a supplemental budget originating from the Executive, and not give the government leeway in having more funds without going through the legislative process, he added.

The senator said he also plans to question the President’s