Marcos vetoes 3 items in 2023 budget law
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has vetoed three “illegal” provisions of the newly signed 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
In a statement on Wednesday, the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) disclosed that the President scrapped the “special provision” of the 2023 national budget on the “use of income” of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).
The NLRC is an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment, which has a quasijudicial function and is tasked to resolve cases involving labor and management disputes.
The President maintained there is no existing law allowing NLRC to use its income, thus, its revenues should be deposited with the National Treasury or in any duly authorized government depository.
“Section 66 of PD No. 1445 and Section 45, Chapter 5, Book VI of EO No. 292 prescribe that receipts shall be recorded as income of Special, Fiduciary or Trust Funds or Funds other than the General Fund only when authorized by law,” Marcos said.
He also noted that the agency’s fund requirements are already provided for in the 2023 GAA.
Marcos also junked the 2023 GAA provision allowing the Department of Education (Deped)office of the Secretary (OSEC) to create a “Revolving Fund of Deped TV.”
As in the case of NLRC, he noted there is no law allowing Deped to create such fund.
In its website, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said revolving funds are derived from rentals for the use of buildings, facilities, or from fees imposed for board and lodging by national government agencies for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlay requirements.
Deped TV is not a “businesstype activity” of the Deped, which may qualify for revolving funds, according to Marcos.
The last vetoed provision of the 2023 GAA is on the prohibition for the Department of Tourism (DOT)-OSEC from using its fund appropriation to change the tourism campaign slogan.
The President signed the P5.268-trillion 2023 national budget last Friday.