Arroyo Assailed Over Budget Veto

“She has favored her lackeys and disfavored her
critics with releases of their development funds even
as the budget law does not distinguish between lackeys
and critics of the administration. Where the law does
not distinguish, a time-honored legal axiom states,
neither should we distinguish.”

The minority leader said the President’s “latest
shenanigan reflects her penchant to politicize every
aspect of her governance and fairness is damned.”

Pimentel also objected to the President’s veto of the
following provisions in the GAA related to
government’s borrowings:

• Provisions that prohibits the disbursement of funds
for interest payments on challenged, fraudulent,
wasteful and/or useless debts pending their
renegotiation and/or condonation.

• Provision requiring the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
and Department of Finance to submit quarterly reports
on actual and foreign and domestic debt service
payments to the committee on appropriations of the
House of Representatives and the committee on finance
of the Senate.

Explaining her veto on the prohibition on the
repayment of anomalous and tainted loans, the
President said “this restriction is a clear
encroachment of the constitutional guarantee on
non-impairment of contracts.” She also stated that the
government’s credit standing in the global community
should be preserved and protected.

Pimentel accused the President of abusing her veto
power by shooting down this provision since this will
result in continued payment by the government of the
loans for projects that have turned sour and did not
benefit the country at all.

He said the veto of this special provision has
nullified the decision of Congress to allocate or
augment funds for essential and productive projects
from the savings that can be generated out of the
disallowed debt service payments.