SC to OSG: Explain budget insertions

MANILA, Philippines — Raising suspicion about possible misuse of funds coming from unprogrammed appropriations (UA), the Supreme Court (SC) asked the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to produce documentation about where unprogrammed funds come from and how they are released.

During the oral arguments on the constitutionality of unprogrammed funds and other alleged budget insertions from the 2024 to 2026 General Appropriations Acts on Tuesday, Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen requested Solicitor General Darlene Marie Berberabe to “submit to the Court a listing of all the SAROs authorizing release for the (UA), as detailed as possible.”

He referred to special allotment release orders, which he explained is issued by the Department of Budget and Management for the Bureau of the Treasury to release funds.

Leonen directed Berberabe to “match or correspond” the SAROs for the UA “to a certificate of income or whatever the Treasury issues.”

Giving a deadline of April 14, the SAROs and their corresponding certificates would be used during interpellations on the second part of the high tribunal’s oral arguments on UA and other budget insertions on April 21.