see - (5) Atty Manuel J Laserna Jr.
As early as 1994, Supreme Court had validated the pork barrel system. -
In the following 1994 consolidated cases, the Supreme Court ratified/validated the constitutionality of the pork barrel system:
G.R. No. 113105 August 19, 1994
PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION ASSOCIATION, EXEQUIEL B. GARCIA and A. GONZALES, petitioners, vs. HON. SALVADOR ENRIQUEZ, as Secretary of Budget and Management; HON. VICENTE T. TAN, as National Treasurer and COMMISSION ON AUDIT, respondents.
G.R. No. 113174 August 19, 1994
RAUL S. ROCO, as Member of the Philippine Senate, NEPTALI A. GONZALES, Chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Philippine Senate, and EDGARDO J. ANGARA, as President and Chief Executive of the Philippine Senate, all of whom also sue as taxpayers, in their own behalf and in representation of Senators HEHERSON ALVAREZ, AGAPITO A. AQUINO, RODOLFO G. BIAZON, JOSE D. LINA, JR., ERNESTO F. HERRERA, BLAS F. OPLE, JOHN H. OSMENA, GLORIA MACAPAGAL- ARROYO, VICENTE C. SOTTO III, ARTURO M. TOLENTINO, FRANCISCO S. TATAD, WIGBERTO E. TAÑADA and FREDDIE N. WEBB, petitioners, vs. THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, THE DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT, and THE NATIONAL TREASURER, THE COMMISSION ON AUDIT, impleaded herein as an unwilling co-petitioner, respondents.
G.R. No. 113766 August 19, 1994
WIGBERTO E. TAÑADA and ALBERTO G. ROMULO, as Members of the Senate and as taxpayers, and FREEDOM FROM DEBT COALITION, petitioners, vs. HON. TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA, JR. in his capacity as Executive Secretary, HON. SALVADOR ENRIQUEZ, JR., in his capacity as Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management, HON. CARIDAD VALDEHUESA, in her capacity as National Treasurer, and THE COMMISSION ON AUDIT, respondents.
G.R. No. 113888 August 19, 1994
WIGBERTO E. TAÑADA and ALBERTO G. ROMULO, as Members of the Senate and as taxpayers, petitioners, vs. HON. TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA, JR., in his capacity as Executive Secretary, HON. SALVADOR ENRIQUEZ, JR., in his capacity as Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management, HON. CARIDAD VALDEHUESA, in her capacity as National Treasurer, and THE COMMISSION ON AUDIT, respondents.
Excerpts from the 1994 DECISION:
"x x x.
Petitioners claim that the power given to the members of Congress to propose and identify the projects and activities to be funded by the Countrywide Development Fund is an encroachment by the legislature on executive power, since said power in an appropriation act in implementation of a law. They argue that the proposal and identification of the projects do not involve the making of laws or the repeal and amendment thereof, the only function given to the Congress by the Constitution (Rollo, pp. 78- 86).
Under the Constitution, the spending power called by James Madison as "the power of the purse," belongs to Congress, subject only to the veto power of the President. The President may propose the budget, but still the final say on the matter of appropriations is lodged in the Congress.
The power of appropriation carries with it the power to specify the project or activity to be funded under the appropriation law. It can be as detailed and as broad as Congress wants it to be.
The Countrywide Development Fund is explicit that it shall be used "for infrastructure, purchase of ambulances and computers and other priority projects and activities and credit facilities to qualified beneficiaries . . ." It was Congress itself that determined the purposes for the appropriation.
Executive function under the Countrywide Development Fund involves implementation of the priority projects specified in the law.
The authority given to the members of Congress is only to propose and identify projects to be implemented by the President. Under Article XLI of the GAA of 1994, the President must perforce examine whether the proposals submitted by the members of Congress fall within the specific items of expenditures for which the Fund was set up, and if qualified, he next determines whether they are in line with other projects planned for the locality. Thereafter, if the proposed projects qualify for funding under the Funds, it is the President who shall implement them. In short, the proposals and identifications made by the members of Congress are merely recommendatory.
The procedure of proposing and identifying by members of Congress of particular projects or activities under Article XLI of the GAA of 1994 is imaginative as it is innovative.
The Constitution is a framework of a workable government and its interpretation must take into account the complexities, realities and politics attendant to the operation of the political branches of government. Prior to the GAA of 1991, there was an uneven allocation of appropriations for the constituents of the members of Congress, with the members close to the Congressional leadership or who hold cards for "horse-trading," getting more than their less favored colleagues. The members of Congress also had to reckon with an unsympathetic President, who could exercise his veto power to cancel from the appropriation bill a pet project of a Representative or Senator.
The Countrywide Development Fund attempts to make equal the unequal. It is also a recognition that individual members of Congress, far more than the President and their congressional colleagues are likely to be knowledgeable about the needs of their respective constituents and the priority to be given each project.
x x x."
My main commentary of the ratio decidendi of the Court is that it erred in holding that the pork barrel system "makes equal the unequal".
There is no rationality in an across the board allotment of P70M per congressman and P200M per senator.
It is an illusion to believe that the allotment of an equal amount per district is necessarily fair/just.
To a demagogue such an logic applies.
To a technocratic and thinking manager or economist, the better approaches or principles are EQUITY and AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, not necessarily numerical or peso equality per geographic unit.
- Atty. Manuel J. Laserna Jr.
Las Pinas City
