Breaking News
27 November 2006
MIRIAM HITS GRAFT BEHIND BUDGET INCREASES
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said that corruption is the reason for budget increases made by legislators, despite a constitution prohibition.
“If we condone the annual habit of increasing budgetary appropriations recommended by the President, this creates an opportunity for corruption,” Santiago said.
Santiago said that in practice, a group of legislators may offer a department secretary an increase in the budget of his department by, for example, 50 percent. But she explained that the budget increase is agreed upon, on the understanding that part of the increase will be allocated to some of the pet projects of the legislators responsible for the increase.
“The Constitution explicitly provides that Congress may not increase the President’s appropriations in the budget. This means two things. The first is that Congress is prohibited from increasing the total new appropriations. The second is that congress is prohibited from increasing the new appropriation for each agency,” she said.
Santiago, a constitutional law expert, gave two reasons for her charter interpretation.
First, when Congress adds to the appropriations for a department, it creates incentives for waste and corruption. Second, the President, as chief executive, knows exactly how much resources are needed to run the government, and Congress should respect her wisdom,” she said.
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