The House of Representatives must recall its proposal for the 2027 budget to clean up issues that were observed in past budgets which were inserted in its recently concluded deliberations, ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio said.
The lawmaker said that there were “significant parts” of the 2027 House General Appropriations Bill that could be declared unconstitutional, particularly when it comes to the triggers that were implemented for the release of unprogrammed appropriations.
“I think it’s important and necessary so that the House can clean up its own mess. Why do I say that? Because if you look at the budget that was passed by the House…there are significant parts that could be declared unconstitutional as well,” Tinio said in an interview on ANC.
He mentioned that he had already spearheaded a push at the lower chamber to become responsible for its amendments into the P7.2-trillion fiscal blueprint, warning that a lack of action could result in a repeat of the Supreme Court ruling on the 2024 and 2025 budgets.
Tinio highlighted the significance of two General Appropriations Acts (GAA) under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. being deemed unconstitutional and that Congress should act as a whole to ensure that there would not be a third voided budget.
“We don’t want a repeat of that. The House must own its own actions…the tricks and techniques that were used in the past are still in the budget. So, you know, this has to be fixed,” the lawmaker said.
“We’re appealing to the sense of responsibility over the budget of the House itself, rather than just leaving it to the Senate to fix it,” he added.
With the House’s version of the budget being approved on 12 October and subsequently transmitted to the Senate, some lawmakers have expressed that it would be better for the upper chamber to address the issues on its own in order to prevent delays in passing the budget.
Tinio, however, maintained that it would be better if the House would fix its own actions, noting that the process could be finished relatively quickly with sufficient preparations ahead of its resumption of regular session.
“As I said, I mean, in the end, of course, the Senate can just do the job. But I think it’s better that the House itself correct[s] its own actions,” he stated.
Old budget tricks
In a separate interview, Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab flagged old practices that were employed during the 2024 and 2025 national budgets, particularly the massive decrease of funding for foreign-assisted projects (FAP).
Ungab said that the House had shifted the allocations under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) by P202-billion, P131-billion of which came from FAP.
The lawmaker said that another chunk of the shift was removed from the pension and gratuity fund for government employees at P10-billion while the Department of Health’s Immunization Program also saw a decrease of allocations by P11.4-billion.
Ungab pointed out that the budget shifts were intended to boost funding for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and its various projects that were prone to politicking.
“It is clear where the budget increase will go, the DPWH. Even if it has a low absorption capacity, it received an increase of P72-billion,” he said in a radio interview.
He stated that the funding had been primarily provided to the Basic Infrastructure Program–the budget that was allocated per district. Ungab said that a consideration for the funding was the coming national elections in 2028.
Aside from infrastructure, the lawmaker said that funding for subsidy programs were also increased in the 2027 budget framework.
Impeachment case vs Marcos looms
With the issues that were observed in the budget and the decision of the Supreme Court, Tinio said that there were considerations to re-file an impeachment complaint against Marcos once the one-year bar lapses.
Although not wanting to give an outright answer, the ACT Teachers representative said that there were similar issues that were raised in the complaint that he had endorsed earlier in the year to those that were found in the ruling of the high court.
“The complaint is there, as I said, it has been affirmed. And specifically in that complaint that we filed, the second article there pertains to the use and abuse of unprogrammed appropriations for 2024 and 2025. The very budgets that have been declared unconstitutional,” he said.
The complaint that the lawmaker was referring to was an impeachment complaint that was filed against the President last 19 January. It was later dismissed for a lack of substance on 10 February.
Speaking on the potential of a fresh complaint, Tinio said that was to heed the call of the public for accountability on the part of the current administration.
Tinio mentioned that it could be observed with the people’s reaction to the Supreme Court ruling that led to renewed calls for Marcos to be charged along with his cabinet secretaries.
“That’s a source of optimism is that essentially the people are correct in demanding accountability. I mean, it’s not every day that two national budgets, general appropriations act…are declared unconstitutional,” he said.
Ombudsman urged to make a move
Amid the potential criminal liability that some public officials may face from the Supreme Court ruling, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines President Atty. Domingo Cayosa has called on the Office of the Ombudsman to probe the issues in the national budget.
The lawyer pointed out that the Ombudsman was the only government agency that could investigate such matters given that the issue may trace back to the President, given that he was the official that was the final signatory in the GAA.
“We are calling on the Ombudsman if they can look at this. We know that those accused are powerful but it is important that until there is no one held accountable, no one imprisoned, nobody removed from office, the culture of impunity remains,” Cayosa said in a radio interview.
“It would be better if there was follow through so the ruling would not be wasted so that public officials would learn to not abuse the budget,” he added.