Lagman niresbakan si Co sa ‘siningit’ na P450b unprogrammed funds

NIRESBAKAN ni Albay Representative Edcel Lagman si House appropriations committee chairman Zaldy Co sa ginawang “personal attacks” ng huli sa halip na direktang pagsagot sa kanyang alegasyong ang P450 billion unprogrammed funds na isiningit sa 2024 budget ay “unconstitutional”.

“Co, engages in personal attacks instead of squarely confronting the constitutional issues on the questionable congressional allocation of an excess of P449,450,510,000 in unprogrammed appropriations over the President’s proposal of only P281,908.056,000,” diin ni Lagman.

“Said exorbitant increase is prohibited by the Constitution under Sec. 25 (1) of Article VI which categorically reads: ‘The Congress may not increase the appropriations recommended by the President for the operation of the government as specified in the budget,’” giit ni Lagman.

“This prohibition covers both the programmed and unprogrammed appropriations proposed by the President in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) as the Constitutions does not distinguish between programmed and unprogrammed appropriations,” dagdag ng beteranong mambabatas.

“I have not forgotten that the practice of increasing the unprogrammed appropriations was the then-prevailing errant interpretation and practice wherein the prohibition on increasing the President’s budget proposal was limited to the programmed appropriations,” ani Lagman.

“I have not forgotten to categorically mention this incorrect interpretation and practice in the petition,” dagdag ni Lagman: “It is well-settled that irregular acts committed in the past cannot legitimize their continuation up to the present. What is wrong must be eventually junked.”

Bago ito, binatikos ni Co ang naging hakbang ni Lagman at kasamahang petitioners, binanggit na ang huli ay “was also once chairman of the appropriations committee and a member of said panel for almost 15 years.”

“(And) yet not once has he ever complained about unprogrammed appropriations. Why complain now?” sabi ng Ako Bicol party list lawmaker na umano’y may-ari ng malaking construction company na Sunwest.

“Was it because he was recently excluded from the bicameral committee that he now claims unprogrammed funds are illegal?” tanong ni Co.

Ang House leader ay isa sa respondents sa 27-page petition na isinampa ni Lagman, kasama sina Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado Jr. at Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman.

Sa kanilang petition, hinamon nila ang validity ng ginawa ng Congress na pagdagdag ng pondo sa P289.1 billion na orihinal ng executive department. Gayunpaman ito’y inaprubahan ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. nang pirmahan ang budget law noong Disyembre.