House Bill No. 5237 passed by the House of Representatives on third and final reading yesterday identifies three (3) classifications of projects contained in this measure, Mr. President. First are the projects that have remained unpaid and outstanding after being declared unconstitutional in the Supreme Court ruling on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). These projects, amounting to a total of P1,902,744,124 were commenced or completed prior to the Supreme Court's PDAF ruling and are all valid obligations incurred by the government.
Francis EscuderoRelated topics
assistance bill court development final fund government house measure president prior priority reading ruling supreme third three total yesterday projectsRelated quotes
There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back...
Robert A. Heinlein
General Public Services will acquire the next highest share at 16.2%, followed by Debt Burden which will obtain 15.3% of the total budget. Although the Defense Sector will get the lowest share at 4.4%, it will reflect the highest percentage increase at 29% inclusive of an additional P25.988 billion for the General Headquarters, AFP, AFW-Wide Service Support units for its modernization program and an additional P9.497 billion to be sourced from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF). Let me now proceed Mr. President to the House-approved Budget or the General Appropriations Bill.
Francis Escudero
In compliance with the Supreme Court ruling on the Disbursement Acceleration Program, a new general provision on the "Meaning of Augmentation” is proposed by your committee in Sec. 69 which states that savings cannot be used to augment a non-existent P/A/P through the use of an appropriation not otherwise authorized by the subject GAA, and that the existence of an appropriation for an allotment class, whether for Personal Services, MOOE, or Capital Outlays, in a P/A/P is necessary for purposes of augmentation.
Francis Escudero
The third and last classification of projects under this measure, Mr. President, are urgent infrastructure, socio-economic, rehabilitation and reconstruction projects which are not funded in any existing appropriation laws. These projects, such as the MRT 3 Rehabilitation and Capacity Extension, the updating of DSWD's National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), or the Emergency Housing Assistance for Victims of Typhoon Yolanda, constitute crucial development initiatives that shall benefit displaced and poverty-stricken Filipinos.
Francis Escudero
But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal - there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J. P. court in the land, or this honourable court which you serve. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal.
Harper Lee
