07/12/2025
๐๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐ ๐
๐๐๐ ๐. ๐๐ผ๐๐พ๐๐ฟ๐ผ
Dear Sir:
I wish to shed light on the statement of Ret. Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio that I was the one who โinsertedโ the special provision in the 2024 National Budget that allows the government to sweep cash from Government-Owned and -Controlled Corporations.
First of all, I cannot make an insertion in the 2024 budget because I was not a member of the House Appropriations Committee, or the โSmall Committeeโ or the Bicameral Committee during the whole 19th Congress.
He refers to a bill I supposedly introduced for the 2024 budget. That is factually incorrect. I introduced House Bill No. 9513, which sought a cash sweep of GOCCs with idle funds, to fund the 2023 budget unprogrammed allocations. As the Government committed to a โno new taxesโ pledge, the proposal was prodded by the need to look for money where it is legally and regulatorily possible to fund the Public Health Emergency Allowance and the Health Facilities Support Fund (both around P52 billion each). The executive agencies and the House leadership reasoned to me that we needed new source of funds to finance the massive COVID-19 pandemic borrowings, much of which was falling due in 2023. The bill was approved in the House of Representatives but did not become law. Any connection between me and that idea ended there. I never filed that bill again or filed any bill for the 2024 budget.
The idea comes from an even earlier Bayanihan bill during the pandemic to โdisgorgeโ the equity of GOCCs with excess funds. That also did not become law.
Now, whether the budget committees copy that bill to fund the 2024 budget is entirely up to their discretion. It is customary for other members of Congress to copy from my bills.
The bill also entirely left the discretion and determination of defining what is โexcess,โ and which corporations should remit funds, to the Executive Branch as a flexibility. Again, my own bill DID not become law. The bill furthermore did not amend the charters of GOCCs like Philhealth to enable them to remit excess funds. If their charters prevented them from doing any transfer, then they cannot be forced to make any transfer.
I hope this clarifies the matter. Please note that given the nature of this issue, this letter shall also be shared to the media.
JOEY SARTE SALCEDA