Buhay party-list representative Lito Atienza who I bumped into a post-WEF gathering last week, could only give them the “I told you so” look. He first raised the issue of the unconstitutionality of the PDAF at the House floor a few days after the opening of the first regular session of the 16th Congress in July last year. At that time, the PDAF scam of Napoles was still gaining traction in media. Making his maiden privilege speech, Atienza quoted the words of the late Constitutional Commission chairperson Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma that Congress has the power to appropriate funds but not to use them. He reminded his fellow congressmen on their sworn duty to legislate and abide by the laws they pass. In keeping with his campaign promise, the former Manila mayor who ran and won as a party-list representative in Congress declared he would not partake of his pork-barrel funds. Each congressman is entitled to P70 million of PDAF allocation while senators get P200 million under the annual budget they approve. He begged them to give up the PDAF, being illegal. Atienza’s peroration hit a raw nerve of the presiding officer, House majority leader, Mandaluyong Rep.Neptali Gonzales Jr. Atienza recalled the words of Gonzales at the floor still ringing in his ears: “You are not a mayor here to treat us like your councilors.” But as fate would later turn out, Atienza was vindicated when the Supreme Court subsequently declared the PDAF as unconstitutional. Atienza rues that his pet bills at the House, though supportive of the “inclusive growth” policy of the Aquino administration, might not see the light of day. He particularly cited his proposed House Bill No. 4445 mandating all business establishments in the country that made a profit for a fiscal year to distribute at least ten percent of their net income to all their employees. The Atienza bill seeks to benefit daily wage earners with improvements of the Philippine economy trickling down to them, and not just their employers enjoying higher profits. If the employers and business owners comply with it, the bill proposes to give them tax deductions the following year. philstar/opinion/2014/05/26/1327282/talk-shops-blah-blah-blah
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 22:44:07 +0000
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