The High Court teaches us on budgeting

Mr. Justice Maario Victor F. Leonen, senior associate justice and leading candidate to replace Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, wrote the landmark en banc decision declaring certain provisions of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 GAAs unconstitutional. The Court also educates us on budgeting.

The High Court explained: "Budgeting, in simple terms, is the process of allocating scarce resources among competing public demands and wants to attain societal goals and objectives. It involves making choices about ends and the means to reach those ends." Thus, the government's duty and aim is to provide public goods and services that enhance the welfare of the people, in terms of education, health, income, and social services. All these cannot be made available without adequate financing.

"The Constitution provides the framework: the Executive prepares the budget; Congress, with the House of Representatives acting first, authorizes or appropriates; then the president executes the enacted budget. The Commission on Audit checks on the expenditures.  "The budgeting system works by organizing and channeling various types of information about societal conditions and about the values that guide budget choices. Integral to it are complex processes that link both political and economic values."

Article VI Section 24 provides: all appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of the public debt, bills of local application, and private bills shall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments SECTION 25. (1) The Congress may not increase the appropriations recommended by the President for the operation of the Government as specified in the budget. The form, content, and manner of preparation of the budget shall be prescribed by law."

It is further provided: (2) No provision or enactment shall be embraced in the general appropriations bill unless it relates specifically to some particular appropriation therein. Any such provision or enactment shall be limited in its operation to the appropriation to which it relates.  "SECTION 29. No money shall be paid out of the treasury except pursuance of an appropriation made by law."

Article VII, Section 22, on the other hand, provides:  The President shall submit to the Congress within thirty days from the opening of every regular session, as the basis of the General Appropriations Bill, a budget of receipts and expenditures and sources of financing, including receipts from existing and proposed revenue measures." The problem in 2024m, 2025 and 2026, under the BBM administration, the budgetary procedures had been abused.

Justice Leonen emphasized in the GAA cases that budgeting is also a means for holding the government accountable for public expenditures. Effective budgeting and control exercised by both the executive and legislative branches of the government, in theory, ensures proper disposition of revenues. Because the general public cannot be fully informed about the operations of government, the constitutional principles of separation of powers and checks and balances are a means of ensuring responsible government.

This decision is a reminder and a warning to the executive and the legislative to remain faithful to the mandates of the Constitution which all of the public officials are sworn to respect, defend, protect and to uphold.