Daven Tamayo

House Speaker to study petition in SC vs 2025 national budget

Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez delivers his message during the welcome lunch for the Philippine delegation to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2024 at the Grandhotel Belvedere in Davos, Switzerland  on January 15, 2024, Monday (Switzerland time). He said the delegation will strive to make their engagements productive and ultimately beneficial to the Philippines and the Filipino people.
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DAVOS FORUM

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

MANILA – House Speaker Martin Romualdez said he will look into the petition filed before the Supreme Court seeking to declare unconstitutional the General Appropriations Act of 2025.&quot;I&#x27;ll study and I&#x27;ll get back to you,&quot; Romualdez said when asked by reporters in a chance interview on Tuesday.Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab and former Executive Secretary Atty. Vic Rodriguez filed the petition on Monday, questioning the alleged blank items in the bicameral conference committee report.The petitioners likewise questioned why &quot;not a single centavo&quot; was appropriated for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and why the Department of Education was not given highest budget priority, contrary to the law.They also noted the budget realignments that supposedly increased the proposed budget for Congress and other line agencies.House Committee on Appropriations Vice Chairperson Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said it&#x27;s anyone right to file a petition before the Supreme Court.&quot;This is a free country. They can question anything under the sun. They can go to any courts and they can file any petition for something which they think are very important. Of course, national budget is very important. So, they can do that. I mean, it&#x27;s up to the court whether their filing of certiorari have value of validity or they have, or that would depend on the court on how they would appreciate,&quot; he said.Adiong maintained he does not see anything wrong or unconstitutional with the budget.&quot;I still believe that it [the budget] has gone through a process where both the members of the, among all the members of the Appropriations Committee on both chambers, the Senate and the House, have meticulously discussed provisions and line items in the budget before they can reconcile some of the conflicting versions or line items and approve it,&quot; he explained.&quot;It&#x27;s the regular annual budgeting process. So I think the content that what they are raising is the content of the budget. So I don&#x27;t see any unconstitutional provisions in the GAA. Again, it&#x27;s not for me to decide, it&#x27;s the court,&quot; the lawmaker added.Adiong refuted an argument in the petition on the supposed removal of PhilHealth funds.&quot;It&#x27;s not really tinanggalan ng pondo, it&#x27;s a subsidy. The PhilHealth is a government or cooperation. So, they technically, PhilHealth is technically an income generating agency. So, it&#x27;s a wrong nomenclature to say na ito&#x27;y budget binibigay annually. It&#x27;s a subsidy of the government,&quot; he said.&quot;So it&#x27;s a wrong way of angling it to say na tinanggalan siya na ng budget. It&#x27;s a subsidy which basically depends on how much money does PhilHealth have,&quot; he explained.PhilHealth President and CEO Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. earlier said they have enough funds and they are focused on further expansion of benefits despite zero government subsidy.Lawmakers at the bicameral conference committee stripped the government subsidy of PhilHealth in the 2025 national budget.The Lanao Del Sur congressman raised that the bicameral committee conference could have reforms, such as better accessibility to the public, similar to budget hearings in the House.<div>MAKABAYAN BLOC SAYS</div>Lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc welcomed the petition questioning the 2025 national budget before the high court.&quot;Tayo po basta may nakita tayo na kaduda-duda sa national budget ay nararapat lamang na questionin yan. In fact, hindi lang technical matter kasi yung mga blank doon sa bicameral conference committee report. Kasi ano ba ang papel ng mga blangko na yun? Nakita natin eventually after mapunan yung mga blank, ay katas budget sa Department of Agriculture, saka sa National Irrigation Administration, ang naging epekto nun,&quot; Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel said.&quot;Hindi tama ang sisihin yung mga technical staff kasi technical staff ba yung magbebenefisyo dun sa mga ganitong realignments? Hindi naman. Ang may papel dun sa paglalagay talaga ng exact allocations dun sa mga iba&#x27;t ibang programa ay ang mga mambabatas,&quot; he added.Manuel refuted the assertion of Acting House Committee on Appropriations Chairperson Rep. Stella Quimbo that the adjustments in the bicam report on the proposed budget are &quot;ministerial.&quot;The Marikina lawmaker also asserted the adjustments are a mere &quot;reporting&quot; of amounts agreed upon by the bicam in the existing report.&quot;With all due respect, doon sa mga kapwa natin mababatas na nasa bicameral conference committee, kahit ano pa pong palusot sa ngayon, hindi po matuturing na typographical error ang pag-a-allocate ng budget, yung paglalagay ng exact amount, kung magkano ba dapat ang ilalaan para sa mga agri-related programs,&quot; he said.&quot;Hindi po yung grammatical error, hindi din po yun na basta-basta lamang na parang minor na correction. Kasi, trabaho po natin yun eh, at hindi natin yun madedelegate sa mga technical staff,&quot; Manuel added.He believes the bicam violated the omnibus provisions authorizing the technical staff to make necessary corrections and adjustments.ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro and Gabriela Women&#x27;s Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas called for transparency in the bicam proceedings.&quot;Dapat transparent ito at nakikita ng taong bayan. Para wala itong pagdududa at hindi ito minamadali. Sundin talaga yung proseso kung paano nag-a-apruba ng bill o ng batas…. Kaya tingin natin may mga na-violate doon sa proseso kasi dati-dati naman kasi hindi naman nangyayari,&quot; Castro said.She cited the supposed expedited processes in approving the budget on second and third reading, contrary to previous Congress.&quot;Minamadali itong pagpasa ng general appropriations bill. Kaya nangyayari itong mga ano ba ito? Ano bang klaseng pagkakamali ito? So, hindi ito simple error lang. Kailangan bago maratify ito, ay kumpleto na. So, yun yung dapat na naging resulta. Ngayon, yung fill in the blanks na yan, di natin alam kung saan nangyari yan,&quot; Castro said.Brosas said they are studying if they will file a petition to question the 2025 national budget.&quot;We should be transparent and accountable doon sa every process ng budget. Kasi sabi nga, kailangan alam ng taong bayan yung every step diyan. At yun ang hindi, yun ang hindi nagawa eh. So, sa portion na yun, sa bicameral, suddenly, meron na tayong GAA. Suddenly, eto na yung mga ano natin. Na hindi rin naman yun yung pinag-usapan,&quot; she said.&quot;So, there is this chamber na nag-decide na ganito yung mga nakalaan. So, there is this chamber na nag-decide na ganito yung mga changes o mga pagbabago…. Ilang minuto bago i-ratify, doon pa lang namin nakukuha yung actual na document,&quot; Brosas said.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez said he will look into the petition filed before the Supreme Court seeking to declare unconstitutional the General Appropriations Act of 2025.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez said he will look into the petition filed before the Supreme Court seeking to declare unconstitutional the General Appropriations Act of 2025.