Rules on Appropriation and Realignment | Powers of Congress | LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

Powers of Congress: Rules on Appropriation and Realignment

The legislative power of appropriation is vested in Congress under Article VI, Section 29 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. This includes the power to allocate public funds for specific purposes through the passage of appropriations laws. The power of realignment, however, must be distinguished and handled in accordance with constitutional and statutory limitations.

Below is a comprehensive discussion on the rules of appropriation and realignment under the legislative powers of Congress:

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I. Appropriation Defined

An appropriation is the authorization made by law or ordinance, directing the payment of public funds for a specific public purpose. The power of appropriation is a legislative function, and no money shall be paid out of the Treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by law (Article VI, Section 29(1), 1987 Constitution).

Appropriations laws typically come in the form of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) which specifies the budget for all branches of government, or special appropriations laws which allocate funds for a specific purpose.

II. Types of Appropriation

1. General Appropriations Act (GAA):

   • This is the national budget which is passed annually by Congress, allocating funds to all government departments, agencies, and instrumentalities for their operations and projects for the next fiscal year.

2. Special Appropriations:

   • These are laws that allocate a particular sum of money for a specific purpose, not covered by the GAA. These appropriations must be accompanied by a certification from the National Treasurer that funds are available for the purpose (Art. VI, Sec. 25(4)).

3. Automatic Appropriations:

   • These are appropriations provided by law without need of further legislative action every fiscal year. Examples include debt service payments and retirement benefits for government personnel.

III. Constitutional Rules on Appropriation

1. Initiative by the Executive:

   • The Constitution mandates that appropriations bills must originate exclusively from the House of Representatives but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments (Article VI, Section 24).
   • The President submits a budget proposal for Congress to consider, and no appropriations law can be passed without originating in the House, though amendments may come from the Senate.

2. Balanced Budget Requirement:

   • The President is required to submit a balanced budget to Congress (Article VI, Section 22). This submission is a key reference for appropriations bills.

3. Specific Appropriation Requirement:

   • The Constitution requires that appropriation laws must specify the purpose for which the funds are intended. This ensures transparency and accountability in public spending (Article VI, Section 25(2)).

4. Prohibition on Transfer of Appropriations:

   • No law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however, the President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice, and the heads of Constitutional Commissions may by law be authorized to augment any item in the GAA for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations (Article VI, Section 25(5)). This power to augment does not extend to realignments of funds to a new item that was not previously included in the budget.

IV. Power of Realignment

Realignment is the act of transferring funds from one program or project to another within the same department or agency. Under the Constitution and established jurisprudence, realignment is a limited power, mainly granted to certain officials to address emergency or unforeseen needs.

1. Distinction from Appropriation:

   • While appropriation is the act of assigning funds for a specific purpose by Congress, realignment occurs after appropriation and involves shifting or redistributing funds within an already appropriated budget.

2. Power to Realign Savings:

   • The power to realign is limited to instances where there are savings. Savings refer to any balances from appropriated funds which remain unspent after fulfilling the purpose of the appropriations, due to efficiency or the completion of a project for less than the budgeted amount.
   • Augmentation from savings may only be applied to an item already included in the appropriations law.

3. Constitutional Limits:

   • As provided under Article VI, Section 25(5), only the President, Senate President, Speaker of the House, Chief Justice, and heads of Constitutional Commissions may be authorized by law to realign funds.
   • Realignment can only augment existing items within the budget, and savings cannot be used to fund new projects or expenditures not covered by the original appropriation law. This rule is emphasized in cases where executive overreach in fund realignment has been challenged (e.g., Araullo v. Aquino on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) case).

V. Jurisprudence on Realignment and Appropriation

1. Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) Case:

   • In Araullo v. Aquino (G.R. No. 209287, July 1, 2014), the Supreme Court held that the realignment of funds under DAP was unconstitutional. The Court clarified that savings can only be realigned to augment an existing item in the GAA and cannot be used to fund new projects or programs. Furthermore, the Court ruled that funds cannot be declared as savings prior to the end of the fiscal year or before they have been freed from their appropriated purpose.

2. Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) Case:

   • In the PDAF (Pork Barrel) case (Belgica v. Ochoa, G.R. No. 208566, November 19, 2013), the Supreme Court ruled that legislative post-enactment intervention in the form of realigning funds through congressional insertions was unconstitutional. Congress’ role in appropriation ends after the passage of the budget, and legislators cannot intervene in the use of public funds post-enactment.

3. Veto Power:

   • The President has the power of line-item veto (Article VI, Section 27(2)), which allows the executive to veto specific items in an appropriation bill. Once vetoed, funds for that specific item cannot be released or realigned unless Congress overrides the veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.

VI. Conclusion

The power of appropriation is a key function of Congress, ensuring that public funds are allocated for specified public purposes. The realignment of funds is a more restricted executive power, contingent on the availability of savings and constrained by constitutional provisions. Appropriations laws, particularly the General Appropriations Act, must conform to the constitutional principles of transparency, accountability, and separation of powers. Jurisprudence further delineates the boundaries of both appropriation and realignment, safeguarding against the misuse of public funds through unauthorized executive or legislative actions.