MARIA CAROLINA ARAULLO VS BENIGNO AQUINO III, JULY 1,2014

ISSUE:  1.Whether or not the DAP violates Sec. 29, Art. VI of the  1987 Constitution, which provides: "No money shall be  paid out of the Treasury except in pursuance of an  appropriation made by law." 2. Whether or not the DAP, NBC No. 541, and all other  execu 

FACTS:  Senator Jinggoy Estrada, in his privileged speech, revealed that some senators had been  allotted an additional PHP50 million each as incentive for voting in favor of the  impeachment of Chief Justice Corona. As a response, Department of Budget and  Management Secretary Abad explained that the funds released had been part of the DAP,  a program designed by the DBM to ramp up spending to accelerate economic expansion.  The DAP is a stimulus package intended to fast track public spending and to push  economic growth by investing on high-impact budgetary programs, activities, or projects  to be funded from the savings generated during the year as well as from unprogrammed  funds. Petitioners contend that the appropriations funded under the DAP, being an  appropriation that set aside public funds for public use, should require an enabling law  for its validity. Petitioners also question the constitutionality of such realignments and  transfers pursuant to Section 25 (5) Article VI of the 1987 Constitution. 

DECISION:  1.No. The SC held that the DAP did not violate this constitutional provision.  2.Disbursement Acceleration Program, National Budget Circular No. 541 and related executive declared  UNCONSTITUTIONAL. 

RATIO DECIDENDI:  1.DAP was merely a program of the Executive and is not a fund nor is it an appropriation. It is a  program for prioritizing government spending. As such, no additional funds were withdrawn from  the Treasury; otherwise, an appropriation law would have been signed. Funds already appropriated  were merely realigned. 2. DAP being in violation of Section 25(5), Article VI of the 1987 Constitution and the doctrine  of separation of powers, namely: (a) The withdrawal of unobligated allotments from the implementing agencies, and the declaration  of the withdrawn unobligated allotments and unreleased appropriations as savings prior to the end  of the fiscal year and without complying with the statutory definition of savings contained in the  General Appropriations Acts; (b) The cross-border transfers of the savings of the Executive to augment the appropriations of  other offices outside the Executive; and (c) The funding of projects, activities and programs that were not covered by any appropriation in  the General Appropriations Act.