proposed people's initiative law by scrap pork natwork

Entitled “An Act Abolishing the Pork Barrel System”, this Act abolishes thepresidential and congressional pork barrel, mandates line item budgeting, prohibits and criminalizes appropriation and use of lump sum discretionary funds, penalizes violators with six years and one day to ten years imprisonment and disqualification from holding public office.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESCOMMISSION ON ELECTIONS

MANILA IN RE: A PROPOSAL TO ENACT A NATIONAL LEGISLATION ENTITLED “AN ACT ABOLISHINGTHE PORK BARREL SYSTEM” THROUGH PEOPLE’S INITIATIVE, E.M. Case No. ________

Mary John Mananzan andRomualdo G. Kintanar and the(total number of signatories)Petitioners signed hereunderX - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -/

PETITION

PETITIONERS, pursuant to Republic Act No. 6735 and Comelec

Resolution No. 2300, as amended, unto this Honorable Commission on Elections,most respectfully state and aver that:

The Petitioners

1. We, the Petitioners, are _______________ (total number of signatories)Filipinos and all registered voters of this country who affixed our signatures to thisPetition which, per Certification issued by this Honorable Commission’s ElectionRecords and Statistics Department (ERSD), is equivalent to __ percent (___%) of______________, the total number of registered voters as of the last nationalelections, wherein each legislative district is represented by at least three percent(3%) of the total number of registered voters therein. Said Certification is attachedherewith as Annex “A”.

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2. We voluntarily affixed our signatures to this Petition proposing to enact anational legislation entitled “AN ACT ABOLISHING THE PORK BARRELSYSTEM” through People’s Initiative under Article VI, Section 32 of thePhilippine Constitution and the Republic Act No. 6735, otherwise known as the“Initiative and Referendum Act”.

3. We file the above proposition due to the failure of Congress to abolish and

criminalize the patronage and graft-riddled pork barrel system, consistent withArticle II Section 28 of the Philippine Constitution, which provides that “The Stateshall maintain honesty and integrity in public service and take positive andeffective measures against graft and corruption.”

4. We fully understand the proposition, discussed its rationale, its advantages

and disadvantages, as well as its consequences and effects, as we have read the fulltexts and contents thereof which were likewise clearly explained to us, in our owndialect or in a language known to us, before we voluntarily affixed our signatureshereto.

5. We, the Petitioners, have duly authorized the:

5.1 People’s Initiative to Abolish Pork Barrel (PIAP) represented by Mo.Mary John Mananzan with office address 2560 Leon Guinto St.,Malate, Manila (tel. no. 02-5241524) and Monsignor Romualdo G.Kintanar with office address Patria de Cebu, P. Burgos St., Cebu City(tel. no. 032-3180850); and the

5.2. National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) with office address 3 rd

Floor, Erythrina Building, No. 1 Maaralin St, Bgy. Central, QuezonCity (tel. no. 02-9206660)

to represent us, for and in our behalf, to sign any and all pleadings/documentssubsequent and as a consequence hereof, and to do or perform any and all actsnecessary for this Petition to prosper and succeed, before the Commission onElections or any proper court or tribunal.

6. We file this Petition on our own behalf with the assistance of our aboveduly-authorized representatives, who will represent us, and to whom the processesof the Honorable Commission may be served at their addresses as indicated above.

7. No public funds have been spent for this Petition.

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Cause of Action

8. Petitioners herein propose, as above stated, to enact a national legislationentitled “An Act Abolishing the Pork Barrel System” through People’s Initiativeunder Article VI, Section 32 of the Philippine Constitution and the Republic ActNo. 6735, otherwise known as the Initiative and Referendum Act.

9. The proposition is based on the Philippine Constitution which provides

that “The State shall maintain honesty and integrity in public service and takepositive and effective measures against graft and corruption.” (Section 28, ArticleII, 1987 Constitution), and the Supreme Court decision concerning pork barrel inBelgica, et al. vs. Ochoa, Jr., et al., G.R. No. 208560 and that concerningDisbursement Acceleration Program in Araullo, et al. vs. Aquino III, et al., G.R.No. 209287;

10. The Rationale of the proposition is that a Constitutional or State Policy is

a direct mandate from the people. It is an expression of the sovereign will of ourpeople. It is a direct instruction from the sovereign or the people who ratified theConstitution. As such, the State Policy contained in Article II Section 28 of theConstitution should not be taken lightly. Much more that now, the presidential andcongressional pork barrel have been exposed and condemned by the Filipinopeople as sources of graft and corruption and of patronage politics, and theSupreme Court has struck down the DAP and PDAF as unconstitutional.

11. The full text and content of the proposed “AN ACT ABOLISHINGPORK BARREL” is hereunder stated as follows:

AN ACTABOLISHING THE PRESIDENTIAL AND CONGRESSIONAL PORK

BARREL SYSTEM, STRENGTHENING THE SYSTEM OF CHECKS ANDBALANCES OVER PUBLIC FUNDS, PROHIBITING CERTAIN

ACTS, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREFOR

SECTION 1. Short Title—This Act shall be known as “An Act Abolishing thePork Barrel System.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of State Policies and Principles. – This act is a directexercise of sovereign power by the people of their authority to enact legislationreserved by the Philippine Constitution.

The sovereign people affirm the need to establish a system of strict accountabilityover the use of public funds to ensure that they are spent solely for functions,

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http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/microsite/pdaf/208560.htm

http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/microsite/dap/209287.htm


programs, projects and activities that redound to the interest of the people,especially the poor and marginalized sectors of Philippine society.

Recognizing that the pork barrel system is one of the main sources of graft andcorruption and of patronage politics, the State shall ensure that measures designedto eliminate the rules and practices of the pork barrel system are in place and thatthe mechanisms of checks and balances are strengthened.

SECTION 3. Definitions. For purposes of this Act, the following terms shallmean:

(a) Pork Barrel is a lump sum public fund assigned by law, regulation or practicewith sole discretion given to the President, legislator or group of legislators, or anypublic officer. The exercise of discretion by public officers relates to the allocation,release or use of these public funds, the identification or selection of projects,implementors or beneficiaries, or any or a combination of or all of these.

(b) A lump sum appropriation is a single but divisible sum of money which servesas a funding source for unspecified or multiple purposes and leaves the purposes ofthe appropriation and their actual amounts for further determination after theenactment of the appropriation law. Said appropriation is not itemized or does notspecify the program, activity or project or implementing government agency forwhich it is appropriated, including the allotment class, beneficiaries, and othermatters required to be disclosed by government agencies in their budget estimatesunder existing law.

( c ) Impoundment is the act of not spending money appropriated by law.Impoundment may be through rescission or cancellation of the appropriation, ordeferral or suspension of the release of the appropriated funds. (d) National Official under this Act refers to the President, head of department ornational agency or his/her respective subordinate, agent, or authorizedrepresentative, and any member of Congress.

(e) Savings refers to any available portion or balance in an appropriation itemunder the law, which has become free from any obligation or encumbrance as aresult of (i) the completion or final discontinuance as certified by the President orabandonment, due to fortuitous events, of the work, activity or purpose for whichthe appropriation is authorized; or (ii) the non-payment of compensation andrelated costs as a result of vacancies in positions and leaves of absence withoutpay; or (iii) the implementation of measures resulting in improved systems andefficiencies that enabled government agencies to meet and deliver the required orplanned targets, programs and services approved in an appropriation law at a lessercost.

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SECTION 4 . General mandatory rules governing appropriations anddisbursement of public funds.

(a) All proposed budgets submitted to the Philippines Congress shall contain onlyitemized or line-item appropriations, except appropriations for the purpose ofdisaster response, contingency fund of not more than 5% of the budget for aspecific item, and for the intelligence/confidential funds of the National SecurityCouncil (NSC), the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Department ofInterior and Local Government (DILG).

(b) The expenditures from allowable lump sums shall be reported immediately toCongress by the government agency to which the sum has been appropriated andshall always be subject to a special audit by the Commission on Audit.

(c) All unspent, unreleased, and unobligated funds of any government agency bythe end of the fiscal year shall remain in or revert to the General Fund and shall notthereafter be available for expenditure except by a subsequent appropriation law;Provided, however, that the President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker ofthe House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and theheads of Constitutional Commissions may authorize their respective governmentagency or office to use the savings realized by the agency or office from its regularbudget during the fiscal year to augment any existing appropriation item for thesame agency or office under the general appropriations act; Provided, further, thatthe augmentation may only be done during the same fiscal year when the savingswere realized; Provided, finally, that the power to realign or use savings may notbe delegated to other public officers.

SECTION 5. Appropriation of special funds. Within the fiscal year following theapproval of this Act, a report on the financial status of every account including butnot limited to the Malampaya fund, the Motor Vehicles Users Charges and otheroff-budget items covered by a special law authorizing the continuous disbursementof funds for a special purpose shall be submitted to Congress. Every fiscal yearthereafter, the President shall submit to Congress a proposed budget for thedisbursement of the special funds in accordance with their purpose as part of theNational Expenditure Program.

SECTION 6. Abolition of the Presidential Social Fund. The share of theGovernment in the aggregate gross earnings of the Philippine Amusement andGaming Corporation provided under Section 12 of Presidential Decree No. 1869 asamended by Presidential Decree No. 1993 shall henceforth be remitted regularly tothe National Treasury and may be used only pursuant to a valid appropriation madeby law. The discretionary authority of the President granted under the aforesaidSection 12 to use the fund “to finance” the restoration of damaged or destroyedfacilities due to calamities” is hereby revoked.

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SECTION 7. Special Offenses. The penalty of imprisonment of six (6) years andone day to ten (10) years and perpetual disqualification from public office shall beimposed on the following persons for committing any of the following acts:

(a) Any national official who authorizes the spending of public money that is notcovered by or is in violation of any appropriation law;

(b) Any national official who, in violation of Section 4 (a), includes a lump sumamount in any budget proposal submitted to Congress, or any member of Congresswho approves the inclusion of any lump sum amount in the general orsupplemental appropriations acts; Provided, that the appropriation of lump sumsfor the purpose of disaster response, a contingency fund of not more than 5% of thebudget for a specific item, and for the intelligence fund of the NSC, DND andDILG shall not be covered by this prohibition;

(c) Any national official who inserts in an appropriation bill provisions allowingpost-enactment intervention by a member or members of Congress in theimplementation of the appropriation measure;

(d) Any member of Congress, or his agent or representative, who directly orindirectly intervenes or participates in the implementation of any appropriation lawthrough any post-enactment act or practice, including but not limited toidentification or endorsement of projects, beneficiaries or contractors, or assumingauthority or exercising influence in the release, allocation or realignment ofappropriated funds;

(e) Any national official who declares and utilizes savings outside of the casesprovided in Section 3(e) hereof, or realigns the improperly declared savings;

(f) Any national official who impounds any appropriation or portion thereof byretention, reduction, rescission or deferral or suspension of release of funds, or anyother means, for whatever reason or purpose, unless there is an official declarationby the President of an unmanageable National Government budget deficit.

(g) Any person including a private individual who persuades, induces, influencesor cooperates with any national official in violating any of the provisions of thisAct shall suffer the same penalty.

The above penalties shall be in addition to the criminal, civil and administrativeliabilities that the national official or private individual may incur under existinglaws.

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SECTION 8. Diligence required; presumption. All public officers involved in theapproval, release and disbursement of funds shall exercise extraordinary diligencein the performance of their functions. When an anomalous transaction is dulyproved, the public officer responsible for the approval, release or disbursement offunds shall be presumed to have knowledge of the anomalous transaction.

SECTION 9. Repealing clause. Any law, presidential decree, executive order, ruleor regulation, or any issuance contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of thisAct, including Section 12 of PD 1869 as amended by PD 1993, is hereby repealed,modified or amended accordingly.

SEC. 10. Amendment or repeal of this Act. This Act may only be repealed,modified or amended by a law that has been approved by the people under thesystem of initiative and referendum enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.

Effectivity Clause. This law shall become effective after fifteen (15) daysfollowing the completion of its publication in two newspapers of generalcirculation by the Commission on Elections.

Enacted this ____ day of ___________________________, through the system ofPeople’s Initiative.

12. The herein proposition embraces only one subject – the Pork BarrelSystem and its abolition which is not one of the exceptions under Republic Act No.6735.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is most respectfully prayed that thisHonorable Commission, after due consideration and verification, issue an Order:

1. Finding the Petition to be sufficient in form and substance pursuant to thepertinent provisions of Republic Act No. 6735 and the implementing resolutions ofthis Commission;

2. Directing the publication of the Petition in Filipino and English at least

twice in newspapers of general and local circulation; and

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3. Calling a Referendum on a date set by the Commission, to be conductedunder its control and supervision, not earlier than forty-five (45) days but not laterthan ninety (90) days after its Certification on the sufficiency of the Petition, toallow the Filipino people to express their sovereign will on the proposition.

Petitioners pray for such other reliefs deemed just and equitable in thepremises.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES, __________________.

National Union of People’s Lawyers3rd Floor, Erythrina Building,No. 1 Maaralin StreetBrgy Central, Quezon CityTel. No. 02-920.6660

By:

_________________________Lawyer’s Roll No. _________IBP No. _________________ PTR No. _________________Admitted to the Bar in ______MCLE Compliance ________Email address

_________________________Lawyer’s Roll No. _________IBP No. _________________ PTR No. _________________Admitted to the Bar in ______MCLE Compliance ________Email address

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We hereby affix our signatures for this Petition to enact legislation entitled “An ActAbolishing the Pork Barrel System” through people’s initiative.

For District/Province/City/Municipality of:

Name AddressLegislative

district Signature1.

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proposed people's initiative law by scrap pork natwork

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