271059/271347/E-02472/E-04036 Concurrence and Dissent Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier — Official PDF

Concurrence and Dissent 2 G.R. Nos. 271059, 271347, E-02472, and E-04036 G.R. No. E-04036 (EDGAR R. ERICE and LEILA DE LIMA Petitioners ' 'v. THE SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES, represented by SENATE PRESIDENT HON. VICENTE C. SOTTO III, and THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, represented by HOUSE SPEAKER HON. FAUSTINO G. DY Ill; HON. RALPH G. RECTO in his capacity as Executive Secretary, and ROLANDO U. TOLEDO in his capacity as acting Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management, Respondents). Promulgated: October 7, 2026 x------------------------ 6----:t"""~~-s=x(~ CONCURRENCE AND DISSENT LAZARO-,JAVIER, J.: Prefatory Ele only says, "Good fences make good neighbours." ... Before I built a wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to· whom 1 •was like to give offence ... -Robert Frost, "Mending Wall" This line mirrors the legal principle of governed duty: strict lines and defined jurisdictions are not arbitrary obstacles; rather, they exist to preserve society's structural order and prevent overreach. The Constitution does not draft the budget, but it fiercely guards its boundaries. Among its most inviolable mandates1 is the ceiling placed upon the legislative power of t.½e purse-Congress may trim or refine the executive's proposed budget, but it may never breach it. When the legislature inflates standby and specialjimds beyond this Constitutional limit and strips away the checks guarding t.1-ieir release, it transforms a contingent safety valve into an unchecked vault, subverting the constitutional architecture'. Yet striking down an unconstitutional act is only half the judicial duty; the greater challenge lies in managing the shadows it leaves behind. CONSTI., art. VI, sec. 25(]) provides: The Congress may· not increase the appropriations recommended by the President for the operation of the Govemmem as specified in the budget. The form, content, and manner of preparation of the budget shall be prescribed by 1aw.