Rico asserts Congress power of appropriation

By Marlon Balmadrid   

QUEZON CITY – Rep. Erico Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) has asserted that the power of appropriation belongs to the domain of the Congress of the Philippines citing the constitutional provision that “no money shall be paid out of the Treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by law.”

The solon made the assertion that the power of the purse is one of the most important prerogative of the Congress as he pushed for the appropriation of P600 billion under his House Bill No.6469 entitled “ Public Works Flood Control Act of 2012.”

The power of appropriation, Aumentado said, originates from the House of Representatives. He said the Constitution provides that “All appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of the public debt, bills of local application, and private bills, shall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments.”

The bill seeks to authorize and appropriate funds for the Department of Public Works and Highways to craft and implement a master plan for the flood control of the entire country with emphasis on and prioritization of Metro Manila, Central Luzon and the CALABARZON areas, which were hardest hit by the recent floods brought about by the monsoon rains.

The lawmaker said the country becomes vulnerable to massive flooding during typhoons, monsoon rains and occurrence of low pressure areas. He added that these floods have caused tremendous losses of lives and properties wasting billions of pesos worth of destruction and economic loses.

In tune with the reformist governance of Pres. Aquino and his political will to pursue a master plan against the devastating floods in the country, Aumentado said now is the opportune time for the Congress to enact a public works flood control law which will be implemented on a multi-year basis up to the year 2040.

To note, DPWH intends to develop a safe society resilient to floods as the Aquino government’s response to the massive destruction wrought by the floods whipped by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, and just recently, by the habagat monsoon rains with a wide swath of destruction in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and the CALABARZON area. The plan entails an outlay of P352 billion, the solon noted.

In his explanatory note, Aumentado sad the country remembers the tremendous loss of lives and properties in previous tragedies such as the Ormoc flood, the Ginsaugon Southern Leyte flood and landslide, the Cagayan De Oro and Iligan City floods as well as the CARAGA region floods and landslides. Western and Central Visayas also suffered destruction of lives and properties due to floods and landslides whipped up by typhoons and monsoon rains.

He said floods also occur in Northern Luzon, the Bicol region, Visayas and Mindanao hence the need for DPWH to craft a long-term flood control program for these regions.

He estimates that a nationwide flood control program would cost P600 billion. The amount  can be sourced from the national treasury through a multi-year appropriation.

It can also be funded by official development assistance (ODA) of donor countries such as Japan, Korea, the United States of America, Australia, Great Britain, Canada, the European Union and even China.

He also cited lending institutions of concessional loans such as the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Korea Economic Development Cooperation Fund – Eximbank, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, among others, can also be tapped for the purpose.

In closing, Aumentado said that the DPWH headed by visionary and well respected Secretary Rogelio Singson is the appropriate agency to implement this massive nationwide flood control program.