'Independent republics' no more

COMMONSENSE By Marichu A. Villanueva (The Philippine Star) Updated December 17, 2010 

Taking time off from his official duties at Malacañang Palace last Tuesday night, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III motored all the way to the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City to join the pre-Christmas party of his former House colleagues in the 15th Congress. He was a congressman for three terms.

By the way, the pre-Christmas party of the House leaders took place after the last session of Congress for this year was adjourned. But before they adjourned for their long Christmas holiday break, both chambers of Congress ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the P1.64-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2011. Our lawmakers would resume their sessions on Jan. 17.

The President’s latest gig with his partymates and House allies came out on the main photo yesterday ofThe Manila Standard Today. The caption head on the get-together: “Happy days are here again.” It showed President Aquino in the center of what looked like a boy band composed of Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte, House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales Jr., party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, Biliran Rep. Roger Espina, and Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento. Each held a microphone, belting out reportedly a couple of songs.

As a popular saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” So if I would write the caption for this photo, it would be worded this way: “Congress leaders sing in chorus with President Aquino.”

It is worth mentioning though that in that same photo, the Chief Executive was visibly comfortable in the company of his House allies and they with him. They obviously let their hair down in a jamming session a few hours after Congress approved the first budget bill of the Aquino administration.

Aquino himself was elated at Congress’ early ratification of the national budget. “This is the first time in 11 years that a budget program is signed on time,” President Aquino told House reporters. He lauded the House leadership of Belmonte that made it possible. Congress’ timely approval of the 2011 budget bill would thus enable President Aquino to sign it into law before this year ends. 

Despite noises made in the media by certain opposition lawmakers, the Senate and the House have kept intact the P22-billion fund for President Aquino’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program. The CCT program aims to give monthly financial assistance of up to P1,400 to the “poorest of the poor” households.

This pro-poor program targets about two million beneficiaries who would get this outright cash dole-outs from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). So there should be no quarrel on the noble objective of this program.

The principal argument against the CCT program of the Aquino administration was that it got this huge funding taken out from the budget cuts on government services like health and education. Earlier, senators like Edgardo Angara and Francis “Chiz” Escudero echoed these concerns. But like their House counterparts, they, too, changed their tune later on.

These things are naturally expected to happen during budget deliberations in the bicameral (bicam) conference committee. It is called the “third Congress” where the traditional give-and-take among senators and congressmen happens as they settle among themselves compromise amendments to reconcile the differing versions of the budget bill.

Or to put it bluntly, it is in the bicam where the usual horse-trading takes place. Behind closed doors, the Senate and the House members of the bicam panel try to get allocations for their respective pet projects and programs.

An Arroyo ally in the House panel in the bicam, Minority Leader Rep. Edcel Lagman, disclosed they were, however, able to squeeze a provision in the 2011 GAA bill for the creation of a congressional oversight committee that would regularly go over the CCT implementation.

The House panel, however, was not able to push its other amendment in the budget bill that would require the unused CCT allocations to be realigned to augment appropriations for education and health services. The Senate panel in the bicam headed by Sen. Franklin Drilon blocked this amendment, arguing it would infringe on the President’s prerogative to realign savings. Drilon is the chairman of the Senate finance committee in charge of the budget bill.

But there was one thing I found strange after I heard Drilon being interviewed on radio yesterday. Drilon publicly admitted he had to consult with President Aquino after the office of Vice President Jejomar Binay sought P500 million in pork barrel allocation in the 2011 budget bill.

Drilon revealed that the President supposedly told him to give to the Vice President only P200 million out of the pork barrel allocation from his (Aquino’s) vacant Senate office. This refers to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) that Aquino was entitled to as senator. Since Aquino ran and won in the May 10 presidential elections, he left three years of his unexpired term in office that will remain vacant until 2016.

Drilon explained that he first had to seek clearance from the Office of the President before such a pork barrel request by the Vice President could be accommodated. Drilon is a partymate of President Aquino in the Liberal Party (LP). Binay, on the other hand, belongs to the PDP-Laban-Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) coalition headed by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. 

Although he did not mention it, I was told that Drilon might be referring to presidential instructions purportedly contained in a letter sent by Budget and Management Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad to both Enrile and Speaker Belmonte. In that letter, Abad informed Enrile and Belmonte that President Aquino would not allow any amendments to the individual budget provisions that Cabinet members might seek from Congress.

Be that as it may, I have the distinct impression that each senator jealously guards his or her independence, especially in working with a co-equal branch of government. In fact, each of the 24 senators is even called an “independent republic.”

But what have happened to our “independent republics”? Have they lost their voice trying to sing the same tune as that of President Aquino’s?