APPROPRIATIONS committee chair Zaldy Co said Wednesday that Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman should also file a case and make himself a respondent.
This was after Lagman and his fellow petitioners challenged the P450 billion in unprogrammed funds in the 2024 budget before the Supreme Court.
“When he was a member of the Bicameral Conference Committee in 2023 he also approved unprogrammed funds of the same amount as 2024,” Co said.
The House leader was one of the respondents named in the 27-page petition filed by Lagman, along with Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado Jr. and Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman.
In their petition, they challenged the validity of Congress’ move to add the funding to the P289.1 billion originally requested by the executive department.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., however, retained the appropriation without vetoing it when he signed the budget law last December.
The petition noted that under the 1987 Constitution, Congress may not increase the appropriations recommended by the President.
“Was it because he was recently excluded from the bicameral committee that he now claims unprogrammed funds are illegal? Lagman was also once chairman of the appropriations committee and a member of said panel for almost 15 years and yet not once has he ever complained about unprogrammed appropriations. Why complain now?” Co asked.
“Perhaps the gentleman from the first district of Albay is becoming more forgetful,” Co added.
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