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

Separate Concurring Opinion 21 G.R. Nos. 271059, 271347, E-02472, and E-04036 of non-tax revenue and the excess of the revenues specified in the BESF, which is the support to foreign assisted projects and support to GOCCs. So there is also a list of priority that is specified, Your Honor, in the GAA itself. And the number three ... ASSOCIATE JUSTICE DIMAAMPAO: What is the standard of such decisions? Are there standards that may be used or applied? SOLICITOR GENERAL BERBERABE: Yes, Your Honor. The standards would be the prioritization that is specified in the GAA and secondly, there is also an internal standard to DBM in tenns of shovel readiness because when an agency asks the DBM whether there is already an excess in the non-tax revenues or excess revenues that will support the unprogrammed appropriations, there are also documentary requirements that the DBM requires. And therefore, there is like a final check as to the readiness of the utilization . because what th~ DBM avoids is giving .them the aljotmept but the utilization, the obligation and the actual paynient will not be done. 57 (Emphasis supplied) A cursory reading of the 2026 GAA reveals that the aforementioned "guide of prioritization" appears to refer to the following paragraphs under Special Provision 1 of subsection XLIII, which establish the process by which the funds shall be released: Release of funds shall be subject to the submission of a Special Budget Request, and. other relevant budgetary requirements in accordance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations, and the following: (i) for excess revenue collections, issuance of a certification that remitted collections to the BTr from a particular revenue source has exceeded the corresponding revenue collections target; or (ii) for new revenue collections, issuance of a certification that remitted collections identified were not part of, nor included in, the original revenue collection targets reflected. In the case of approved loans for foreign-assisted projects, the loan proceeds shall be promptly released to the agency concerned, through the issuance of corresponding SARO upon submission of a . Special Budget Request, supported by a copy of the perfected loan agreement, as approved in accordance with pertinent laws, rules, regulations, and guidelines issued thereon.58 What is clear from the reading of this provision is that what it distinctly isolates from other funds are the source and the trigger to fund foreign-assisted projects, i.e., the existence of loan proceeds from approved loans. To my mind, this is an example of contingent legislation, i.e., which is the delegation to another body of the power to ascertain facts necessary to bring the law into actual operation. 59 With respect to the first two triggers, however, there is 57 TSN, June 9, 2026, pp. 123-124. 58 See Republic Act No. 12314 (2026), sec. I, XLIII, Special Provision I. 59 See Lagman v. Ochoa, Jr., 888 Phil. 434, 502 (2020) [Per J. Leonen, En Banc].