INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Lawmakers are allowed to introduce amendments to the national expenditure program during the committee hearing of the appropriations bill and during floor debates, according to the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office.
An example of an amendment is fund realignment, which the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) defines as the act of transferring the budget allocated for an approved item in a project to another item.
Realignment may also be made during the execution of the budget.
Article VI Section 25 of the Constitution states: “No law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however, the President, Senate President, House Speaker, Chief Justice and heads of constitutional commissions may, by law, be authorized to augment any item in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations.”
Likewise, under the 2014 budget, a special provision on the Priority Development Assistance Fund had set a limit on the realignment of the fund.
“Realignment in any component for each program, project or activity authorized herein may only be made once at any time during the year,” said the 2014 national expenditure program posted on the DBM website.—Ana Roa, Inquirer Research
Sources: Inquirer Archives, senate.gov.ph and dbm.gov.ph