UNA hits Palace over ‘Fiscal Dictatorship’

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang wanted to tighten its grip on five constitutional agencies by moving to control its budget.

Describing it as “fiscal dictatorship,” United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) secretary general and Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco said yesterday that Malacanang’s move is against the fiscal autonomy guaranteed under the Constitution.

Tiangco took up the cudgels for the five offices of the Constitutional Fiscal Autonomy Group (CFAG) composed of the Judiciary, the Ombudsman, the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Commission on Audit (COA), and the Commission on Elections (Comelec), by seeking amendments to the proposed 2014 General Appropriations Act.

Tiangco said the proposed 2014 national budget is full of “unconstitutional provisions,” disguised as “special provisions” in the budget of the five constitutional offices.

“There are provisions in HB 2630 (2014 General Appropriations Bill) which are patently unconstitutional. These provisions are a blatant attempt to control the five independent members of the CFAG and circumvent the system of checks and balances set in place by our Constitution,” he said.

Tiangco said Malacañang’s decision to strip the judiciary and other constitutional bodies of their fiscal autonomy by controlling the 2014 national budget is tantamount to fiscal dictatorship.

“In the news they’re calling this a fascist dictatorship. May I add that it’s really amounting to a ‘fiscal dictatorship’ – an attempt to control every part of the national government through its budget. We must prevent any attempt by the executive department to meddle in matters only exclusive to these Constitutional bodies,” he said.

Tiangco said Malacañang has inserted special provisions in the proposed 2014 national budget by “either limiting the fiscal independence or grossly expanding the fiscal control over these five offices.”

Tiangco said he raised these issues during the committee hearings and submitted his proposal to repeal the provisions in 2014 GAA.

He said he wrote a letter to House appropriations committee chairman Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab to delete the provisions in the GAA, saying they are violating the constitutional provisions of fiscal autonomy of the constitutional agencies.

Tiangco said the move of Malacañang to control the budget is seen as an intrusion into the intended guarantee of separation of powers and the independence granted to these constitutional units from the other branches of government.

“I have contested these so called ‘special provisions’ in the General Appropriations Act, imposed on the CFAG group. If the majority in Congress elect to allow this fiscal dictatorship to be set to law then I am ready to bring my case to the Supreme Court. Fiscal autonomy is a constitutional matter that neither the budget secretary nor the President can change what is expressly stated in the Constitution,” he said.

The 2014 national budget passed second reading at the House of Representatives last Sept. 27 and is set to be taken up for the third reading when Congress resumes session on Monday. – Paolo Romero