271059/271347/E-02472/E-04036 Concurring Opinion: Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo — Official PDF

Concurring Opinion 13 G.R. Nos. 271059, 271347, E-02472, and E-04036 matter of the conflicting provisions. In a purely practical sense, where there is a conflict as to a particular matter in the two versions before the Bicameral Conference Committee, its reconciliation may lead to necessary adjustments in other portions of the budget. As held in Tolentino, "[i]fthe committee can propose an amendment consisting of one or two provisions, there is no reason why it cannot propose several provisions, collectively considered as an 'amendment in the nature of a substitute,' so long as such amendment is germane to the subject of the bills before the committee."43 Cl'early, the important consideration is whether the amendment introduced is germane to tll.e subject matter of the bills before it. To hold otherwise would unnecessarily confine and restrict the Bicameral Conference Committee's capacity to reconcile conflicts. Reconciliation of differences does not merely mean confining the resolution to the particular provision at hand; it may involve revising other provisions to maintain a cohesive and comprehensive budget. Congress may create new P APs and reclassify them from programmed to unprogrammed, subject to certain safeguards. The power of the purse which our people, through the Constitution, have vested in Congress, allows the latter to create new P APs and m.ove P APs from Programmed to Unprogrammed appropriations, and vice versa, so long as certain safeguards are complied with .. The separation of powers and Congress' power of the purse The late Fr. Joaquin Bernas, one of the most eminent and respected authorities in Philippine Constitutional Law, reiterates that in essence, the separation of powers simply means that legislation belongs to Congress, execution to the Executive, and the settlement of legal controversies to the Judiciary.44 Each branch is prevented from invading the domain of the other, 45 46 as each one is supreme within its own sphere and independent of the others. The purpose of this separation, as stated by James Madison, is to prevent, "the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary in the same 43 Tolentino v. Secretary of Finance, 305 Phil. 686, 748 (! 994) [Per J. Mendoza, En Banc]. (Emphasis supplied). . . . • • : , • • 44 FR. JOAQUIN BERNAS, THE ] 987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 678 (2009). ,s Id. '' Santiago v. Guingona, 359 Phil. 276, 302 (I 998) [Per J. Panganiban, En Banc].