Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Wednesday said he will file a petition before the Supreme Court to question the constitutionality of the 2024 General Appropriations Act.

In a virtual interview with reporters, Pimentel said he was in touch with a member of the House of Representatives to challenge the constitutionality of this year's national budget, particularly the P450-billion increase in unprogrammed appropriations.

"As a matter of fact, I am about to finish our outline for the reasons why the additional P450 billion brought by Congress to the level of unprogrammed appropriations as proposed by the President is unconstitutional," he said.

He refused to name the person he was talking to from the House but noted that it was not Albay 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman, who also raised the constitutionality of the GAA.

The bicameral conference committee in December inserted P449.5 billion in unprogrammed funds in the reconciled version of the 2024 GAB, which was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos into law last month. 

Lagman said the move significantly increased this year's budget for unprogrammed funds to P731 billion.

For Pimentel, this practice by his fellow lawmakers must be stopped.

"From my memory, this is the third year in a row that it seems like unprogrammed funds are being abused," he said.

He added that Congress raised the national budget by P100 billion in 2022 compared to the executive's request.

"If we do not stop this practice, it would be abused. This practice would be abused. What is bad is that it is unconstitutional. So, it's a nip in the bud," he stressed.

Earlier yesterday, the Department of Budget and Management said the unprogrammed funds in the P5.768-trillion national budget were merely "standby funds."

"We write to shed light on concerns regarding the unprogrammed appropriations of the fiscal year 2024 national budget," the DBM said.

"Allow us to emphasize that unprogrammed appropriations are standby appropriations, outside the approved government fiscal program, which serve as an important tool for the government to address unforeseen expenditures and prioritize essential programs and projects," it said.

              Jom Garner @tribunephl_jom