271059/271347/E-02472/E-04036  Separate Concurring Opinion: Justice Japar B. Dimaampao — Official PDF

Separate Concurring Opinion 16 G.R. Nos. 271059, 27 l 34 7, E-024 72, and E-0403 6 with artificial revenue surpluses. The requirement that revenue collections must exceed revenue target should be understood to mean that the revenue collections must exceed the total of the revenue targets stated in the BESF. Moreover, to release the unprogrammed funds simply because there was an excess revenue as to one source of revenue would be an unsound fiscal management measure because' it would disregard the budget plan and foster .budget deficits, in contravention of the Government's surplus budget policy. We cannot, therefore, subscribe to the respondents' view. 51 (Citations omitted; emphasis supplied) The change introduced in the 2015 GAA appears to proceed from an understanding that the pronouncements in Arau/lo were a product of the interpretation of the GA.As for fiscal years 2011, 2012, and 2013 since the Court, inter alia, ostensibly recognized that its judgment depended on the proper appreciation of the GAA's contents, viz.: The present controversy on the unprograrnmed funds was rooted in the correct interpretation of the phrase "revenue collections should exceed the original revenue targets." The petitioners take the phrase to mean that the total revenue collections must exceed the total revenue target stated in the BESF, but the respondents understand the phrase to refer only to the collections for each source of revenue, as enumerated in the BESF, :with 'the •condition being deemed complied with once the revenue collections from a particular source already exceeded_ the stated target. 52 For reference, the relevant provisions relating to unprogrammed appropriations under the 2011, 2012, and 2013 GAAs were worded in the following sapience: 2011 GAA 1. Release of Fund. The amounts authorized herein shall be released only when the revenue collections exceed the original revenue targets submitted by thePresident of the Philippines to Congress pursuant to Section 22, Article VII of the Constitution, ,including savings generated from programmed appropriations for the year: PROVIDED, That collections arising from sources not considered in the aforesaid original revenue targets may be used to cover releases from appropriations in this Fund: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That in •case of newly approved loans for foreign-assisted projects, the existence of a perfe~ted loari agreemept for_ the purpose s_hall be sufficient basis for the. issuance of a SARO covering the loan proceeds: PROVIDED, FURTHERMORE, That iffhere are savings generated from the programmed appropriations for the first two quarters of the year, the DBM may, subject to _the approval of the President, release the pertinent appropriations under the Unprogrammed Fund corresponding to only fifty 51 See Arau/lo, et al. v. President Benigno SC. Aquino Ill, et al., 737 Phil. 457, 614--6 I 5 (2014) [PerJ. Bersarriin, En Banc]. 52 Jd.at6l2. - ---;---