‘A very, very bad budget’: Can veto fix it?
Metro Manila, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is poised to veto or remove some items from the proposed ₱6.532-trillion national spending for next year, which his sister, Senator Imee Marcos, described as a "very, very bad budget."
The General Appropriations Bill passed by Congress has faced widespread criticism over supposed procedural, legal, and constitutional violations.
One of the contentious issues is the ₱1.1-trillion budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways, which exceeds that of the Department of Education, despite the Constitution's clear directive that the government must prioritize education in its budget allocations.
There is also public outrage over the proposal to strip the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), the government health insurer, of any subsidy, a move lawmakers argue contradicts a number of laws mandating such allocations.
Additionally, the House of Representatives-initiated social assistance program for low-income Filipinos, known as the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita program (AKAP), has been feared to mirror the outlawed discretionary or pork barrel funds in line with a Supreme Court ruling.
Senator Marcos has repeatedly urged her brother to refrain from acting on the “unconstitutional, illegal, and immoral” budget, suggesting that he return it to Congress for lawmakers to address. However, the president has taken a different track: veto certain line items.
What happens during a presidential veto?
Unlike other bills, which the president can only reject in their entirety by sending his objections to the chamber of Congress where they originated, the Constitution allows the chief executive to make line-item vetoes to the budget bill without discarding the entire proposal.
“The President shall have the power to veto any particular item or items in an appropriation, revenue, or tariff bill, but the veto shall not affect the item or items to which he does not object,” states Article 6, Section 27 of the Constitution.
The Constitution also grants Congress the power to override the veto with a two-thirds vote in the house of origin and another two-thirds vote in the other chamber.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, a seasoned legislator and lawyer, explained that the budget law or General Appropriations Act (GAA) grants agencies the “authority to spend.”
“So pag-i-line item veto yan ibig sabihin yung authority to spend for that particular item of expenditure ay mawawala. No authority, so do not spend. Otherwise, makakasuhan yung gagastos nun kasi wala nang legal basis,” he said.
[Translation: By using a line-item veto, it means the authority to spend for that particular item of expenditure is revoked. Without authority, they cannot spend. Otherwise, those who spend it could face legal consequences since there would be no legal basis.]
Budget Undersecretary Goddes Hope Libiran explained that a veto “deletes the vetoed items – as if they do not exist.”
On the bright side, experts said vetoes would result in less debt to finance spending.
“Huwag tayong magpanic na nalelessen ang budget. Ibig sabihin nun lessen din ang kailangang borrowing (Let’s not panic if the budget is reduced. That simply means less borrowing is needed),” Pimentel said.
“The effect is that it would require a much lesser amount that needs to be borrowed to fund the total GAA because of the vetoed items,” Libiran said.
What could face a veto?
Pimentel said the president may use line-item vetoes on the massive budget for the DPWH to ensure it remains below the funding allocated for education.
“Kapag na-veto ngayon ‘yun, ibig sabihin naman wala nang legal basis to spend those amounts, i-minus na yun sa 1.1 trillion ng infrastructure budget to come up with a new total for infrastructure expenditure.,” Pimentel told reporters at the Senate earlier this week.
“Tapos kung mas mababa ‘yan sa education sector na total budget, ibig sabihin compliant tayo sa Constitution where it is stated that education shall enjoy the highest budgetary priorities,” he added.
[Translation: If it gets vetoed now, it means there will be no legal basis to spend those amounts, and it should be deducted from the P1.1 trillion infrastructure budget to come up with a new total for infrastructure expenditure. Then, if that total is lower than the budget for the education sector, it means we are compliant with the Constitution, which states that education shall enjoy the highest budgetary priority.]
Pimentel said the president could also veto another controversial item - AKAP - which has a ₱26-billion outlay, ₱13 billion less from the House proposal.
However, while the president can remove certain items, he cannot realign funds as this would step on the authority of Congress, Pimentel explained. He said this would prevent the president from restoring the ₱12-billion cut from the DepEd budget or the ₱74-billion subsidy for PhilHealth.
He said the president can eventually augment funding for these items through savings, but this can only be done later in the year when savings are identified.
“Hindi sapat ang line-item veto kasi malalim at matindi ang problema ng very bad budget na ito (The line-item veto is not enough because the problems with this very bad budget are deep and severe),” Sen. Marcos said during Thursday’s Kapihan sa Senado media forum.
Better a reenacted budget?
Sen. Marcos reiterated that the president should ask Congress to reconvene the bicameral conference committee – which introduced substantial changes – to address budget issues, and rush work during the Christmas break.
“Kung saka-sakali, pinaka malala na ito, hindi magkasundo hanggang sa January [at] mag re-reenacted ka on a per month basis, buwan buwan naman ‘yan eh… As soon as a proper budget has been finalized, edi yun na ang papalit sa 2024 budget,” she said.
[Translation: If worst comes to worst, if they can’t agree until January and a reenacted budget is implemented on a per-month basis, well, it will still be tracked month by month. As soon as a proper budget has been finalized, that will replace the 2024 budget.]
A reenacted budget means the spending plan from the previous year will be implemented but new initiatives and projects will be in limbo. However, the senator emphasized that there is still time to avoid this.
“‘Wag na tayo muna masyado mag biyahe at magbakasyon. Tulad ng sinabi ko, ang mahihirap wala namang bakasyon [at] wala namang biyahe, edi magtiisan tayong lahat (Let’s not travel or go on vacation for now. As I said, the poor don’t have vacations or trips, so let’s all endure together),” she said.
Pimentel also said that meeting the Dec. 31 deadline for passing the national budget is not a do-or-die situation.
“How many times na nangyari sa past na dumating ang January 1 walang budget? Okay naman, nabuhay naman, wala namang nangyaring masama sa Republika. It's better to have an acceptable budget law than to have a budget law na inaangalan ng taong bayan just for the sake of having one before December 31,” Pimentel said.
[Translation: How many times in the past has it happened that January 1 arrived with no budget? It’s fine, we survived, nothing bad happened to the Republic. It’s better to have an acceptable budget law than to have one that the people complain about, just for the sake of having it before December 31.]
