SC to Palace, Congress: Explain new ‘pork’ case

The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the Executive and Legislative branches to explain not later than Friday allegations by watchdogs of public funds that certain provisions in the 2015 national budget resurrected the already outlawed Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the voided practices under the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). 

The High Court told Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr., Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to submit their respective comments on the petition filed by former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, now with Social Watch Philippines, and several others.

Former Sen. Panfilo Lacson joined the petitioners in their demand that some provisions of the 2015 GAA be declared unconstitutional, since these contravened prior SC rulings on the PDAF and the DAP.

But the High Tribunal did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO), as sought by the petitioners, to prevent the respondents from spending as much as P700 billion, or nearly a third of the P2.6-trillion 2015 budget, which Briones and Lacson said constituted lump sums or the so-called presidential pork.

The other petitioners were lawyer Ramon Acebedo Pedroza, Frances Irene Rallonza Bretana and Mai Palacio Paner, who are members of the Scrap the Pork Network; Rodolfo Aranas Fabricante, of the Overseas Filipino Workers Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc.; Amorsolo Competente, president of Alert and Concerned Employees for Better SSS; David Diwa, president of the National Labor Union; Eleuterio Tuazon, president of the Philippine Association of Labor Unions; Bienvenido Lorque, member of the Board of Directors of the United Filipino Seafarers; Leodegario de Guzman, president of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino; Diego Landagan Magpantay, of the Citizens Crime Watch-Anti-Corruption Task Force; Alain del Pascua, president of the Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan All Filipino Democratic Movement; Sanlakas, through President Marie Marguerite Lopez and Secretary General Jose Aaron Pedroza Jr.; and the Metro Manila Vendors Alliance-Quezon City, represented by Secretary-General Flora Santos.

The petitioners asked the SC to declare as unconstitutional Sections 70 and 73 of the 2015 GAA.

They said Section 70 of the 2015 GAA defines savings as portions or balances of any unreleased appropriations in the 2015 GAA, which have not been obligated.

They said Section 73 of the 2015 GAA speaks of the rules in the realignment of allotment classes and reprioritization of items in the appropriations.

They also asked SC to rule as illegal the National Budget Circular No. 559 (NBC 559) and some provisions under the Special Purpose Fund, particularly the E-Government Fund (for strategic information and communication technology projects), the International Commitment Fund, the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Funds, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund, the Pension and Gratuity Fund and the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Program Fund.

In November 2013, the High Court declared the PDAF unconstitutional, including all its previous forms in the budget.

It also directed prosecutorial agencies to “investigate and prosecute all government officials and/or private individuals for possible criminal offenses related to the irregular, improper, and/or unlawful disbursement of all funds under the pork barrel system.”