SC to Palace, Congress: Answer lump sum case

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the Palace and Congress to answer allegations of lump sum and discretionary funds in this year’s budget.

In session yesterday presided over by Associate Justice Arturo Brion, the justices required the executive and legislative branches to comment on the petition for temporary restraining order (TRO) on certain provisions of the 2015 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and special purpose funds (SPF) filed last week by the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa).

An insider said the high court gave the respondents 10 days from receipt of notice to comply with the order.

In its 30-page petition, Philconsa sought the issuance of a TRO on the implementation of Sections 65, 70 and 73 of the 2015 GAA as well as on special provisions for SPF.

Petitioners led by Philconsa president and Leyte 1st district Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez also asked the high court to order the Commission on Audit (COA) to issue notices of disallowance on all disbursements and releases from the questionable GAA provisions.

They also urged the SC to issue show cause order against Congress and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad for “flagrant disobedience, resistance and disregard of the decisions of the Supreme Court in the (Priority Development Assistance Fund and Disbursement Acceleration Program cases).”

Sec. 65 of the GAA provides for lump sum appropriations while Sec. 70 defines savings as portions or balances of any unreleased appropriations in the GAA that were not obligated.

Sec. 73, on the other hand, contains rules in the realignment of allotment classes and reprioritization of items of appropriations.

Philconsa wanted the high court to declare all three provisions unconstitutional.

Petitioners said an examination of the 2015 budget would show “scandalous and unconscionable freight” of more than P424 billion in lump sum appropriations “cleverly embedded” in nine strategic departments and two executive agencies considered “highly vulnerable to the whirligig of transactional, rent-seeking and patronage politics.”

Petitioners argued that even at this stage, it is not yet too late for the SC to act.

Aside from Romualdez, the other petitioners were former senator Francisco Tatad, former budget secretary Benjamin Diokno, former national security adviser Norberto Gonzales and Catholic Archbishops Ramon Arguelles, Fernando Capalla and Romulo de la Cruz.

Earlier this month, a group led by former national treasurer Leonor Briones of anti-corruption watchdog Social Watch Philippines filed a similar petition on similar grounds. In that case, the SC also ordered the government to answer the petition.