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Congress of the Republic of the Philippines HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

House of Representatives Complex Constitution Hills, Quezon City

IN THE MATTER OF THE IMPEACHMENT OF BENIGNO S. AQUINO III AS PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ACT Teachers Party-List Representative ANTONIO L. TINIO; National Artist for Literature BIENVENIDO LUMBERA; CYNTHIA N. LUMBERA; Alliance of Concerned Teachers Philippines Chairperson (ACT Philippines) BENJAMIN G. VALBUENA, Secretary General FRANCISCA L. CASTRO, and Deputy Secretary General VLADIMER A. QUETUA; Quezon City Public School Teachers Association (QCPSTA) President DR. PRISCILLA D. AMPUAN; ACT National Capital Region-Union Secretary JOSELYN F. MARTINEZ; Manila Public School Teachers Association (MPSTA) President LOUIE L. ZABALA; ACT State Universities and Colleges Spokesperson CLEVE KEVIN ROBERT V. ARGUELLES and Local Universities and Colleges Representative VERONICA L. GREGORIO; All-UP Workers Union (AUPWU) Former National President FELIX PARIṄAS and National President DR. RAMON GUILLERMO; Congress of Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND-UP) Chairperson DR. GERARDO LANUZA; UP Kilos Na Convenor SARAH JANE RAYMUNDO; and AIM Faculty Association President PROF. EMMANUEL LEYCO,

Complainants.

IMPEACHMENT COMPLAINT AGAINST PRESIDENT BENIGNO SIMEON AQUINO III

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PREFATORY

The people have risen up against institutionalized patronage and legitimized graft and corruption as embodied by the pork barrel system. Their nationwide rage and activism pushed the Supreme Court (SC) to promulgate Belgica vs. Ochoa1 and declare as unconstitutional portions of that system, the Priority  Development  Assistance  Fund  (PDAF)  or  “congressional  pork”  and  two  forms  of  “presidential  pork,”  for  violating  the  principles  for  a  democratic  and  transparent government.

Ruled the High Court, “provisions   of past and present Congressional

Pork   Barrel   Laws…which   authorize/d   legislators—whether individually or collectively organized into committees—to intervene, assume or participate in any of the various post-enactment stages of the budget execution, such as but not limited to the areas of project identification, modification and revision of project identification, fund release and/or fund realignment, unrelated to the power  of  congressional  oversight…[and] all informal practices of similar import and effect.”2 The SC has ruled that the practice of dealing pork to lawmakers (1) violates constitutional principles of separation of powers, the non-delegability of legislative power, and the presidential veto power; (2) impairs public accountability; and (3) subverts genuine local autonomy. In other words, congressional pork, however dealt, destroys the foundations of democratic and transparent government and allows the   people’s  money   to   be   used   for  purposes other than their interest.

The Decision embodies the letter and spirit of the law, clear and undeniable to everyone—most especially the President, the highest official duty-bound to implement all laws. This law, in turn, ensures that the interests of the people are served, through the proper and transparent management and disbursement of the funds they have entrusted to the government.

In spite of the Decision, and contrary to his pronouncements to the public that “it is time to abolish PDAF,”3 President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has retained the congressional pork barrel—albeit in ways that are hidden in plain sight, an open secret running rampant in agencies directly under his watch.

By his perpetuation of informal practices of dealing pork barrel to

members of Congress to the detriment of public interest, President Benigno 1 G.R. No. 208566, 19 November 2013. Hereinafter, the Decision. 2 The Decision, pages 69-70. 3 Pahayag ni Pangulong Aquino ukol sa abolisyon ng PDAF, ika-23 ng Agosto 2013. Available in http://www.gov.ph/2013/08/23/pahayag-ni-pangulong-aquino-ukol-sa-abolisyon-ng-pdaf-ika-23-ng-agosto-2013/. Last accessed on 10 August 2014.

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Simeon Aquino III broke his oath of office and betrayed the public trust. By his blatant violation of the legal prohibition against congressional pork, he deliberately, gravely, and culpably violated the Constitution. With these acts, he has proven himself unfit and undeserving to continue occupying the seat entrusted to him by the Filipino people.

THE ACTION

1. This is an impeachment complaint against President Aquino for his betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution in relation to his blatant violation of the law prohibiting congressional pork barrel laid down in the Belgica v. Ochoa ruling.

2. Complainants accuse Benigno Simeon Aquino III, President of the

Republic of the Philippines, of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution. This Complaint will detail how he, as Chief Executive, has laid in place procedures and practices which allow legislators to exercise post-enactment discretion, intervention, and participation in the use of lump-sum funds appropriated for a number of national government agencies. In short, he is responsible for perpetuating the prohibited Congressional Pork Barrel.

JURISDICTION

3. This verified impeachment complaint is being filed before the House of Representatives, for immediate referral to its Committee on Justice pursuant to its rules and Article XI, Section 3 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.4

PARTIES

4. Complainants, all Filipinos and of legal age, are: a. ACT Teachers Party-List Representative Antonio L. Tinio, a member of the House of Representatives; b. Bienvenido Lumbera, National Artist for Literature; c. Cynthia N. Lumbera;

4 Section 2 (a) and (b), Rule II of the Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings in the House of Representatives in relation to Section 42, Rule X and Section 28 (aa), Rule IX of the Rules of the House of Representatives and Francisco, Jr. vs. House of Representatives (G.R. No. 160261, 10 November 2003), which implement Article XI, Section 3 of the Constitution on the initiation of impeachment complaints.

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d. Benjamin G. Valbuena, Chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers Philippines; e. Francisca L. Castro, Secretary General of ACT Philippines; f. Vladimer A. Quetua, Deputy Secretary General of ACT Philippines; g. Dr. Priscilla D. Ampuan, President of Quezon City Public School Teachers Association (QCPSTA); h. Joselyn F. Martinez, Secretary of the ACT National Capital Region-Union; i. Louie L. Zabala, President of the Manila Public School Teachers Association (MPSTA); j. Cleve Kevin Robert V. Arguelles, Spokesperson of ACT State Universities and Colleges; k. Veronica L. Gregorio, Local Universities and Colleges Representative of ACT SUCs; l. Felix Pariñas, Former National President of All-UP Workers Union (AUPWU); m. Dr. Ramon Guillermo, National President of AUPWU; n. Dr. Gerardo Lanuza, Chairperson of Congress of Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND-UP); o. Prof. Sarah Jane Raymundo, Convenor of UP Kilos Na; and p. Prof. Emmanuel Leyco, President of the AIM Faculty Association. 5. Complainants may be served with orders and notices from this

House of Representatives through counsel at the address indicated below. 6. Respondent Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III is the incumbent

President of the Republic of the Philippines. He may be served with a copy of this complaint and notices from the House of Representatives at New Executive Building, Malacañang Palace Compound, J.P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila.

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STATEMENT OF FACTS

7. Although discretionary lump sum funds such as PDAF, Malampaya funds,   and   the  President’s   Social   Fund  have  been  plaguing   the public coffers for decades, multibillion-peso scams erupted one after another beginning mid-2013. News and official government reports, mainly Report No. 2012-03 released by the Special Audits Office of the Commission on Audit5 on the allocation and use of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and Various Infrastructure including Local Projects (VILP), proved that these amorphous funds are highly vulnerable to dissipation in favor of the likes of Janet Lim-Napoles, her fake NGOs, and her politician cohorts.

8. Aside from detailing how billions of public funds are lost to graft

and corruption, these accounts show how discretionary lump sums are used for political patronage from the lowest level of government up to the highest. News investigations and analyses detail how the PDAF and its earlier incarnations greased the wheels of Congress6 and, in the process, deprived the people of basic social services.7

9. Widespread public outrage against the pork barrel system fuelled

the  August  26  “Million  People  March”  in  Luneta,  Manila  and  in  several  protest  sites in and out of the country. It also gave rise to various anti-pork alliances across sectors and classes, all demanding the abolition of all forms of pork, the prosecution of those accountable for looting the public coffers, and the rechanneling of these funds to basic social services. One such alliance is the #AbolishPork Movement, which would later spearhead the  People’s   Initiative  Against Pork (PIAP) to enact a law abolishing the pork barrel system.

10. From late August to early September 2013, three petitions were

filed before the SC questioning the constitutionality of the PDAF. On 10 September, the SC issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the DBM, National Treasurer, Executive Secretary, or any person acting under their authority from releasing the remaining PDAF allocated to Members of Congress under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2013.8

5 Hereinafter, the COA Report. 6 Pork is a Political, Not A Developmental, Tool. Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Chua, Yvonne T. and Cruz, Booma http://pcij.org/stories/2004/pork.html. Last accessed on 9 August 2014. Cited in Belgica (page 3). 7 The people have spoken: End institutionalized plunder now! Center for People Empowerment in Governance Issue Analysis No. 03, 25 August 2013. Posted in http://www.cenpeg.org/IA%202013/PDF/CenPEG_Analysis_End_Pork_Barrel_Aug_25_2013.pdf. Last accessed on 10 August 2014. 8 Republic Act 10352

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11. On 19 November 2013, the SC promulgated Belgica v. Ochoa, which defines the pork barrel system as “the   collective   body   of   rules   and  practices that govern the manner by which lump-sum, discretionary funds, primarily intended for local projects, are utilized through the respective participations of the Legislative and Executive branches of government, including its members.”9

12. The outlawed PDAF or “congressional  pork  barrel,” on the other

hand, is “a  kind  of lump-sum, discretionary fund wherein legislators, either individually or collectively organized into committees, are able to effectively control certain   aspects   of   the   fund’s   utilization   through   various post-enactment measures and/or practices.”10

13. Concluded the High Court: “The  Court  renders  this  Decision  to  rectify  an  error  which  has  persisted  in  the  chronicles of our history. In the final analysis, the Court must strike down the Pork Barrel System as unconstitutional in view of the inherent defects in the rules within which it operates. To recount, insofar as it has allowed legislators to wield, in varying gradations, non-oversight, post[-]enactment authority in vital areas of budget execution, the system has violated the principle of separation of powers; insofar as it has conferred unto legislators the power of appropriation by giving them personal, discretionary funds from which they are able to fund specific projects which they themselves determine, it has similarly violated the principle of non[-]delegability of legislative power; insofar as it has created a system of budgeting wherein items are not textualized into the appropriations bill, it has flouted the prescribed procedure of presentment and, in the process, denied the President the power to veto items; insofar as it has diluted the effectiveness of congressional oversight by giving legislators a stake in the affairs of budget execution, an aspect of governance which they may be called to monitor and scrutinize, the system has equally impaired public accountability; insofar as it has authorized legislators, who are national officers, to intervene in affairs of purely local nature, despite the existence of capable local institutions, it has likewise subverted genuine local autonomy x x x. “For as long as this nation adheres to the rule of law, any of the multifarious unconstitutional methods and mechanisms the Court has herein pointed out should never again be adopted in any system of governance, by any name or form, by any semblance or similarity, by any influence or effect. Disconcerting as it is to think that a system so constitutionally unsound has monumentally endured, the Court urges the people and its co-stewards in government to look forward with the optimism of change and the awareness of the past. At a time of great civic unrest and vociferous public debate, the

9 The Decision, page 35. 10 Ibid.

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Court fervently hopes that its Decision today, while it may not purge all the wrongs of society nor bring back what has been lost, guides this nation to the path forged by the Constitution so that no one may heretofore detract from its  cause  nor  stray  from  its  course.    After  all,  this  is  the  Court‘s  bounden  duty  and no other’s. “WHEREFORE,   the   petitions   are   PARTLY   GRANTED.     In   view   of   the  constitutional violations discussed in this Decision, the Court hereby declares as UNCONSTITUTIONAL: (a) the entire 2013 PDAF Article; (b) all legal provisions of past and present Congressional Pork Barrel Laws, such as the previous PDAF and CDF Articles and the various Congressional Insertions, which authorize/d legislators—whether individually or collectively organized into committees—to intervene, assume or participate in any of the various post-enactment stages of the budget execution, such as but not limited to the areas of project identification, modification and revision of project identification, fund release and/or fund realignment, unrelated to the power of congressional oversight; (c) all legal provisions of past and present Congressional Pork Barrel Laws, such as the previous PDAF and CDF Articles and the various Congressional Insertions, which confer/red personal, lump-sum allocations to legislators from which they are able to fund specific projects which they themselves determine; (d) all informal practices of similar import and effect, which the Court similarly deems to be acts of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction x x  x.”11 14. In sum, the SC outlawed the PDAF or  “congressional  pork  barrel”  

because it violates separation of powers, non-delegability of legislative power, and the   President’s   power   to   veto   items   in   an   appropriations   law;  impairs public accountability; and subverts genuine local autonomy. These principles for democratic government and transparent management of the people’s  money   are   diluted   if   not   altogether   defeated   however  way   pork   is  cooked  and  served  to  lawmakers,  “whether  through  formal  measures  written  into the law or informal  practices  institutionalized  in  government  agencies.”12

15. The Decision also recognizes that congressional pork perpetuates

political patronage, citing recent and not-so-recent history—“Over the decades,  ‘pork’  funds  in  the  Philippines  have  increased  tremendously, owing in no  small  part  to  previous  Presidents  who  reportedly  used  the  ‘Pork  Barrel’   in  order to gain congressional support.”13 Adds Justice Arturo Brion on his separate concurring opinion:

“A lump sum appropriation like the PDAF cannot and should not pass Congress unless the Executive and the Legislative branches collude, in which case, the turn of this Court to be an active constitutional player in the budget

11 The Decision. Emphases supplied. 12 The Decision, page 43. 13 The Decision, pages 17-18. Citations omitted and emphases supplied.

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process comes into play. The PDAF, as explained in the Opinions of Justice[s] Carpio and Bernabe, is a prime example of a lump sum appropriation that, over the years, for reasons beneficial to both branches of government, have successfully negotiated the congressional legislative process, to the detriment of the general public.

x x x

“[C]urrent practices [prove] that Congress has given him [the President] his own pork barrel—generally, lump sum funds that he can utilize at his discretion without passing through the congressional mill and without meaningful congressional scrutiny. As I have stated, this is a constitutionally anomalous practice that requires Court intervention as the budgetary partners will allow matters to remain as they are unless externally restrained by legally binding actions. “Congress,  for  its  part,  is  given  significant  authority  to  decide  on  the  projects  and activities that will take place, and to allocate funds for these national undertakings. It has not at all complained about the loss of its budgeting prerogatives to the President; it appeared to have surrendered these without resistance as it has been given its share in budget implementation as the current PDAF findings show. Thus, what confronts the Court is a situation  where  two  partners  happily  scratch  each  other’s  back in the pork barrel system, although the Constitution prohibits, or at the very least, limits the practice.”14

16. Two days after the Decision was handed down, the Aquino

administration through Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma   Jr.   said   that   the   administration   “will  comply with the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) declaring the Priority Development  Assistance  Fund  (PDAF)  unconstitutional.”15

17. A month after the decision was handed down, the Aquino administration enacted the General Appropriations Act for 2014 (2014 GAA).16 His  administration  branded  it  a  “pork-less  budget,”  because  the  PDAF  item  was  deleted. The administration explained that sum of the amounts from the P24.25-billion   item  were   “realigned,”   at   the   instance of legislators, to other items in several agencies.

18. Of   these   “realignments,”   a   total   of   P20,761,644,000  are   allotted  

for new programs of the Departments of Health (DOH), Labor and Employment (DOLE), and Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Public Works and

14 Justice  Brion’s  separate  opinion  to  the  Decision,  pages 9 and 11. Emphases on the original. 15 Aquino government to comply with the decision of the Supreme Court declaring the Priority Development Assistance Fund unconstitutional posted in http://www.pcoo.gov.ph/archives2013/nov21.htm Last accessed on 10 August 2014. 16 Republic Act 10633

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Highways (DPWH); the Commission on Higher Education (CHED); and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). These amounts  are  the  “House  pork,”  to  wit:

IMPLEMENTING AGENCY PROGRAM

AMOUNT (in ‘000  Pesos)

DOH Assistance to Indigent Patients - “for  hospitalization  and  the  grant  of  assistance  to  indigent  and  poor  patients”  (Special  Provision  [SP]  8)17

3,193,950

DOLE Government Internship Program (GIP) and Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers “TUPAD”  Project - “for  the  payment  of  stipend  of  beneficiaries  equivalent to seventy five percent (75%) of the existing  minimum  wage  in  the  area” - “for  the  payment  of  wages  of  displaced  workers  resulting from weather and regulatory shocks and internal conflict during their short-term employment  under  the  TUPAD  Project”  (SP  8)18

1,022,000

TESDA Special Training for Employment Program - “for  the  conduct  of  community-based specialty training  for  employment”  (SP  4)19

1,022,000

DSWD Crisis Intervention Program - “to  provide  financial  assistance  to  individuals  and  families  in  crisis  situations”  (SP  4)20

4,090,000

DPWH Regional and Local Infrastructure Program - “for  the  construction  and  rehabilitation  of  the  following local infrastructures: a.) Local Roads and Bridges; b.) Classrooms and Academic Buildings; c.) Multi-Purpose Buildings; and d.)  Levels  2  and  3  Water  Supply  Systems”  (SP  8)21

7,309,494

CHED Scholarship Program - “for  the  grant  of  scholarship  assistance  to  deserving students”  (SP  3)22

4,124,200

TOTAL HOUSE PORK 20,761,644

19. The SPs covering the programs funded by House pork have the same provisos ostensibly intended to prevent a repeat of the Napoles scam, including a condition that the beneficiary shall first comply with requirements

17 2014 GAA, page 407. 18 Ibid, page 458. 19 Ibid, page 477. 20 Ibid, page 553. 21 Ibid, page 508. 22Ibid, pages 649-650.

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of the agency and the school or hospital, an authority for the agency to use up to 1% of the fund for administrative costs, an authority for the agency to engage a third party agency or organization   to   monitor   the   program’s  implementation, a ban on delegation or transfer of funds to CSOs, and a condition that  the  program’s  implementation  shall  be  subject  to  guidelines  to  be issued by the agency.

20. These programs were not among those in the proposed budget of the President for 2014.23 Neither were they deliberated upon by the House of Representatives as part of the General Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2014.24 Budget  Secretary  Florencio  Abad,  Jr.  also  admitted  that  “the  funds  are  not part   of   their   regular   programs.”25 These SPs were added only after the General Appropriations Bill went past the Lower House and the promulgation of Belgica, when it became glaring that retention of PDAF will be not only be unpopular but illegal.

21. Senators,   for   their   part,   “realigned”   their   “Senate   pork,”  

amounting to a total of P1,794,500,000 to the following Special Purpose Funds and line agencies:

SENATOR SPECIAL PURPOSE FUND OR AGENCY AUGMENTED

AMOUNT (in million pesos)

A. Cayetano Calamity Fund 200.00 P. Cayetano Calamity Fund 200.00 Santiago Calamity Fund 200.00 Ejercito Calamity Fund 200.00 Recto Calamity Fund 200.00 Estrada Local Government Support Fund:

Lla-lo, Cagayan LGSF: Caloocan LGSF: Manila

50.00

50.00 100.00

Lapid DPWH DOH DSWD

193.00 5.00 2.00

Revilla DPWH DOH UP System

84.50 75.00 35.00

Trillanes PNP Philippine Army Philippine Navy CHED TESDA

7.40 27.95 22.00 36.20

4.00

23 Or the 2014 National Expenditure Program. 24 House Bill 2630. 25 ‘Pork’  still  working  for  lawmakers,  Abad:  What’s  wrong  with  political  patronage? by Salaverria, Leila B., Philippine Daily Inquirer, 6 March 2014 (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/582716/pork-still-working-for-lawmakers. Last accessed on 10 August 2014.)

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DOH 102.45 1,794.50

22. Explaining the realignments, Abad told the Senate Committee on

Finance that the realigned funds are for scholarships under state universities and the Commission on Higher Education (20%); employment under DOLE and TESDA  (10%);  medical  assistance  under  the  DOH  (15%);  “assistance  to  persons  in   crisis”  under   the  DSWD   (20%),   and   local infrastructure projects under the DPWH (34%). He also stated for the record that P24.5 million was allocated per  congressman  per  district  albeit  “for  specific  projects  only.”26

23. It should be noted that the appropriations for DOH, less the

“realignments”  at  the  instance  of  the  three  senators,  amount  to  nearly P10.5 million for each of the 289 Members of the House of Representatives.27 Appropriations for DOLE and TESDA amount to nearly P3.5 million for each House Member; for DSWD, P14 million; and CHED, also P14 million.

24. The said amounts are corroborated by a form28 circulated among

House Members, after approval of the 2014 budget.

25. Pursuant to the said Special Provisions, the DSWD issued in February 2014 Memorandum Circular No. 2,29 the implementing guidelines for the Crisis Intervention Program.30 Wisely, it does not mention “congressman/woman”  and  “senator,”  nor  indicate  that  he  or  she  could  have  a say in pinpointing the beneficiaries of the financial, medical transportation, or burial assistance or any of the services under the program. Unwisely, the memo was routed to the offices of all congressmen/women by DSWD employees, who practically just tendered to congressional staff the memo contained in an unmarked brown envelope.31

26. Officials of the said agencies, including their Secretaries, also held several meetings with legislators to orient the latter on how to access the funds in these programs. One such meeting was conducted on 20 May 2014, at the Andaya Hall, South Wing Building of the House of Representatives, by Dr. Janette Garin, Undersecretary for the Women, Children, and Family Cluster of the DOH.

26 Abad: PDAF realigned in 2014 budget, Corpuz, Niña, ABS-CBN News, 23 October 2013 (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/10/23/13/abad-pdaf-realigned-2014-budget. Last accessed on 10 August 2014.) 27 At the time the 2014 GAA was passed. 28 Annex A. 29 Annex B. 30 Found in the 2014 GAA as part of the additional P4,090,769,000 given to DSWD (amount represents the difference between the 2014 GAB approved by the House of Representatives and the 2014 GAB approved by the bicameral conference committee). 31 Affidavit of Ms. Andrea Karla Guray, administrative staff of ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. Antonio Tinio. Annex C.

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27. Undersecretary Garin conducted the meeting upon a letter of invitation  to  House  Members  “to  discuss  the  Medical  Assistance  Program.”32 It was attended by a number of House Members and congressional staff.

28. The Medical Assistance Program is the program designed by DOH

to implement the abovementioned Special Provision 8 of the DOH budget in the 2014 GAA, with appropriated funds amounting to over P3.1 billion.

29. Undersecretary Garin made a presentation on the guidelines then

recently signed by Secretary Enrique Ona for the Medical Assistance Program,33 using a slide presentation,34 then entertained questions from the audience. An audio recording of the meeting and a partial transcript are attached to this Complaint.35

30. The following are several things of note in the briefing:

a. Undersecretary Garin is there as representative of the DOH. She also  said  that  “this  whole  program  [MAP] was  transferred  to  my  office.” b. The DOH drafted the guidelines for the MAP in consultation with the House Members, amending them three times. There was a lot of confusion among the Members caused by “lapses”  on  the  part  of  DOH,  because “the  guidelines that was given to you was in contrary to the initial guidelines that I presented to the Speaker and the officers of the House.” c. The DOH recognizes that the funds earmarked for the Medical Assistance   Program   are   not   DOH’s   funds   but   the   House   Members’,36 with repeated references to the assistance fund for indigents being the “congressional   fund”   and   “your   funds,”37 and the guarantee letter as “tulong ni Congressman, tulong po ng opisina.” d. The DOH acknowledges the authority of the House Member to identify indigent patients38 and to determine whether persons will

32 Letter of invitation from the Office of the Undersecretary to Rep. Antonio L. TInio (Annex D). 33 Annex E, distributed during the briefing. 34 Annex F 35 Annexes G and H, respectively. The recording is authenticated by Mr. Romel Guisinga (Annex I). 36 USEC GARIN: “So,  the decision of the Department is to do away with all walk-in patients because in the first place it was made clear to us that these funds are not DOH funds but are actually funds of Congressmen who  are  there  to  assist  their  constituents.” 37 On  one  occasion,  Undersecretary  Garin  said,  “For  the  DOH-retained facilities, mali naman po talaga, lalo na ‘pag  sinasabi  nila  na  ‘Uy,  sorry  po,  wala  po  ditong  pondo  yung  Congressman  niyo’.    Hindi  po  talaga  dapat  sabihin  ‘yun.” 38USEC GARIN: “If  in  case  nagpadala  kayo  ng  pasyente,  pagka-padala  niyo  ng  pasyente,  sinabi  na  ‘Wala  po  ditong  pondo  yung  opisina  niyo,’  which  usually  happens.    This  is  something  that  we  admit  should  not  happen but  unfortunately  the  process  of  requesting  the  funds  and  downloading  it  takes  a  lot  of  time.”

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qualify as such.39 Undersecretary Garin mentioned that the DOH in certain instances can issue a guarantee letter (GL) for a person asking for medical assistance with just one phone call from the House Member.40 She also assured the audience that their referred patients are guaranteed of assistance—“We will not let the patient wait. We will not let your office wait.”—and  that  the  GLs  will  be  “good  as  cash…kumbaga parang SM  gift  check.” e. The signed guidelines did away with documentary requirements of  proving  one’s  qualification  for  the  assistance.41 f. The   DOH   has   assigned   “focal   persons”   to   be   on   call   for   the  processing of guarantee letters from House Members, planning to install at least three personnel so that there is someone to assist referred patients  “24/7.” A list of focal persons per hospital was also distributed by electronic mail the day after the briefing.42 Undersecretary Garin also said they have trained enough staff, and will add more in the future, to accommodate the requests of all House Members.43 g. There are three procedures for the implementation of the MAP.

i. For DOH-retained hospitals with downloaded funds:

39 USEC GARIN: “Okay,  so  the  qualifications  will  be  a  recommendation  from  the  MAP  officials,  and  who are the  MAP  officials?    Kayo  ‘yan,  these  are  the  Congressman  or your designated personnel.” 40 USEC GARIN: “So,  the  proposal  that  we  have  in  this  case  [when  the  funds  have  not  yet  downloaded  to  the  House  Member’s  chosen  hospital]  kung  saka-sakaling pagdating [ng pasyente], wala diyaan, walang pondo ýung office or whatever, we have a directory that will be given to you and that will be e-mailed to all your offices. In that directory, there are two persons in-charge of all hospitals, so makikita ninyo dun sa directory, andidito yung mga pangalan ng mga hospitals and then kung sino yung contact person na tatawagan ninyo. So, for any problem, you immediately call, text or e-mail the persons in-charge of that hospital and automatically they will issue a guarantee letter direct to your office and direct to the hospital.” 41 USEC GARIN: “Now,  on  the  implementing  mechanism,  we  also  learned  that  because  it  was  going  together  with PAU or the Public Assistance Unit of the Department of Health, nagkaroon ng maraming requirements so on the provision of Medical Assistance there were requirements as to the original complete prescription for medicines  and  medical  supplies,  the  original  laboratory  request,  the  original  physician’s    order  request  form  and the statement of account, all of this, so for your previous guidelines under Section 4 (B) that whole paragraph has been deleted so  we,  the  new  guidelines  that  you  have  now,  it’s  totally  deleted.” 42 Electronic  mail  from  the  Public  Assistance  Unit  to  the  Office  of  Rep.  Tinio  with  the  subject  “final  directory”  sent on May 21, 2014 (screenshot, Annex J). The e-mail contained a copy of the slide presentation and the list of focal persons as attachments. 43 REP. SY-ALVARADO: “Yun  po  bang  ating  available  personnel  in  your  office  ho  can  accommodate  all  congressmen’s  concerns  with  regards  to  the sending of guarantee letters kasi po katulad lamang pos a aking distrito po ay napakarami po na nabibigyan namin dati ng guarantee letter e kung minsan po animnapu, minsan po isandaang pasyente x x x E kung kaming lahat e halos three hundred congressman kami, can they all accommodate  all  of  us  po  for  that  particular  thing?” USEC GARIN: “[W]hen  this  program  came  in  and  initially  we  thought  it  will  be  assigned  to  my  office,  we trained people x x x Actually ni-retrieve namin yung lahat na trinain, we started calling them, we had a meeting last week, dinagdagan ng tao, so makakayanan po nila. And ahm, if there will be a bottleneck at some point of time, nagdadagdag po kami nang nagdadagdag ng tao. But for now, people who were facilitating  before  that’s  a  total of 6 or 7 people ahm, now they are 14 and 21. So yun po situation po. For sure they can accommodate everybody.”

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- The hospitals provides the medical assistance upon request made directly by the House Member to the hospital

ii. For DOH-retained hospitals without downloaded funds: - Requests are made to the MAP unit, which issues a guarantee letter to the patient. The GL is presented to the hospital cashier, which then provides assistance on behalf of the hospital. A bill is sent to the MAP Unit for verification and payment.

iii. For non-DOH government health facilities: - Same for DOH-retained hospitals without downloaded funds.

h. Names of DOH officials are deleted in the GL in recognition of the “political   points.”44 The signatory in the old GL, Assistant Secretary Jimmy Lagajid, was removed so that there will be no doubt in the minds of   beneficiaries   as   to   “who   facilitated   the   funds,”45 i.e., the House Representative. i. The DOH has now banned from receiving the assistance walk-in patients who go straight to hospitals without going to a congressman or congresswoman’s  district  office first.46

j. The Undersecretary also mentioned that any excess from the GLs can  be  used  for  “take-home”  medicines.47

44 USEC GARIN: “We also understand na yung guarantee letter na unang nirelease, medyo yung format, I mean  it’s  good,  it’s  okay.   Unfortunately, the  format  creates  a  lot  of  questions  kasi  nga  parang  it’s,  it’s  an  indigency program of the DOH. Nawawalan ngayon ng, let`s admit it, the political points in, in the case of the office requesting it kasi ang nakapirma dun is Asec. Lagajid and it was placed there na hindi pwedeng i-honor pag Saturday and Sunday. Andudun  din  yung  nakalagay  na  it’s  charged  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary. So all of these were deleted. We will be giving you the new format of the guarantee letter.” 45 USEC GARIN: “Tinanggal  na  rin  namin  yung  pumipirma,  si  ASec  Jimmy  Lagaji.    ASec  Jimmy  is,  kaya  siya  nandiyadiyan before, kasi siya yung head ng PAU Office and he is the HEA of Secretary Ona. We also admit na hindi nga maganda tingnan na meron ibibigay kayo tapos makikita  ng  pasyente  na  ‘ASec  Lagajid’  kasi  nawawalan ngayon ng points na totoo naman na kayo ang nag-facilitate ng pondo.”   46 USEC GARIN: “Ito  palang  dalawang  forms  [from  the  PAU]  because  it’s  a  PAU  or  a  Public  Assistance  Unit  Office, yung isang form na pinapadala sa inyo parang yung mga walk-in patient na gustong magpatulong. The PAU office writes a recommendation and sends it to your office. So medyo hindi maganda kasi parang ang feeling tuloy ng pasyente nagpunta siya sa DOH, ngayon itutulak namin sa office  ninyo.    ‘Pag  hindi  agad  na-entertain ng office ninyo, marami pang salita. So the decision of the department is to do away with all walk-in patients because in the first place it was made clear to us that these funds are not DOH funds but are actually funds of Congressmen who are there to assist their constituents. So the referral letter if ever you receive one coming from DOH, don’t  mind  that  but  we  already  gave  instruction. I mean I personally gave instructions last week to do away with all of those. Kasi hindi pi-puwedeng yung mga kapag may lumalapit dun ire-refer namin sa inyo. You know best and you know better sino ang nanganagilangan ng tulong sa distrito ninyo. Isa pa, hindi rin talaga namin alam kung constituent ninyo because they can always  say  they’re  from  this  district,  they’re  from  this  area  tapos  hindi  naman.” 47 USEC GARIN: “Now,  meron  ding  mga  tanong  yung  billing  amount  daw,  hindi  nagko-coincide sa requested amount sa guarantee letter. We already gave instructions for the hospitals, kung kunwari ang pinabigay ninyong  tulong  is  four  thousand  or  let’s  say  five  thousand.    Yung  billing  niya  kasi  nabawasan  pa  pala  ng  Philhealth  or  whatever  naging  let’s  say  three  thousand  five  hundred na lang para hindi na tumagal, pakuha ninyo na lang ng take-home meds niya. Kasi meron namang mga gamot din na inuuwi sa bahay so pakuha na lang  dun.    Idadagdag  na  lang  nila  sa  bill  yun.    The  hospital  wouldn’t  mind  as  long  as  the  amount  stipulated  in  

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k. Since the 2014 GAA states that the funds are for medical assistance only, medical missions are not allowed. The Undersecretary then suggested ways of going around the prohibition. She also suggested for Congress to include medical missions in the enabling SP for the DOH funds in the 2015 budget.48 l. That issuances and instructions are released to offices and hospitals of DOH to implement the MAP in accordance to the above.

31. During the open forum, mechanisms used by the DSWD for its

House pork were revealed by a House Member who said that he “was  able  to  talk to Secretary Dinky [Corazon Soliman].”     According to him, DSWD’s  assistance fund is identified by the local government unit chosen by the legislator:

“Ang napagkasunduan doon namin regarding yung situations like us na malayo kami sa regional office, malayo kami sa mga regional hospitals or national agencies e ida-download po nila, meron na po silang ginawang MOA from the Central Office pipirma yung regional director ng DSWD at ida-download po yung pondo, let’s  say  12  million.    Sabi ni Secretary, ‘Cong, kahit kalahati lang muna kasi masyadong malaki.’ So yung kalahati po ida-download lang sa local government na gusto mo na mag-iimplement ng programa ng DSWD at yung provincial government na yun, it will be signed by the governor and the regional director of the Department. Yung pondo na yun, ang responsible na po ay yung LGU.” 32. On 13 February 2014, the Philippine Information Agency (PIA)

Region XII issued a press release entitled   “DOLE   12,   solons   partner   for  employment,   government   internship   projects.” It states that, together with the Department of Labor and Employment-Region XII, the eight congressional representatives of Region XIII are  “setting up plans for the implementation of programs and activities for funds coursed through the agency.”    

33. DOLE Regional Director Ofelia Domingo confirmed the P3.5-

million allotment per congressional district for beneficiaries to be identified by the congressmen under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers or the TUPAD program and the Government Internship Program.

the guarantee letter will be the amount will be the amount that the hospital will honor. If the bill is like five thousand and the guarantee letter is four thousand five hundred then they have to pay for the 500 kasi medyo mahirap silang i-ano...” 48 USEC. GARIN: “Ay  just  last…last  concern  pala.    Ang  daming  tumatawag tungkol sa procurement of medicines. While we would like to support that, our dilemma is that our hands are tied because in the funds that were approved, naka-specify kasi siya na hospital assistance. May we just request na kung pu-pwede for the next year, specified dun na puwede yung procurement of medicines for medical missions because as of now, DBM does not allow us…So  yun  naman  yung  medyo  dilemma  namin  but  then  if you have medical missions, these are like out-patient, you can group them together like oh you can have a diabetes clinic or you can have a hypertensive clinic and then the laboratories and the medicines that they will be using can be charged to the hospital. So, pu-pwede  po  ‘yung  ganun.”

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Domingo  also  cited   that   she  met  with   the   solons   in  early   January   “to   inform  the latter of the availability of the said budget and set the initial steps for the required  work  plan.”

34. It will be recalled that TUPAD and GIP have been provided with

appropriations amounting to P1.02 billion as per Special Provision 8 of the DOLE budget in the 2014 GAA. The abovementioned allocation of P3.5 million per congressional district are to be funded from this appropriation.

35. A copy of this article as it appeared in the website of the PIA

Region XII is attached to this Complaint as Annex K.49 36. Other reports from the DOLE Regions X50 and V51 also confirm the

P3.5-million allocation per district reflected in the form circulated after the approval of the 2014 GAA. These reports from official sources indicate that the DOLE Regional Offices recognize the entitlement of district representatives to pinpoint beneficiaries for the GIP and TUPAD Program. The press release for DOLE X approved for release by Regional Director Atty. Alan M. Macaraya said   that   “Interested applicants are advised to visit their respective Congressional  Districts  Offices.”

37. On 22 April 2014, lists of focal persons for DOH, DOLE, and CHED

were provided by the Office of the Speaker to House Members.52 The lists contain the names and contact numbers of (1) assigned staff in each of the 136 covered hospitals for the MHCAP, (2) focal persons for the GIP and TUPAD programs of DOLE, and (3) CHED regional directors for its scholarship program.53

38. On 4 August 2014, the House Committee on Appropriations

conducted   a   hearing   on   the   CHED’s   implementation   of   their   scholarship  programs as mandated in Special Provision 3 of the CHED budget in the 2014 GAA, with appropriations amounting to P4.1 billion. According to Chairperson Isidro Ungab, the hearing is “an  oversight  committee  hearing x x x We can act as an oversight body especially for x x x public  funds.”

39. The meeting was not announced in general as is usually done

following the Rules of the House. Neither were the regular and ex-officio members of the Committee on Appropriations given notice that it will be held

49 Taken from http://r12.pia.gov.ph/index.php?article=1611392260408. Last accessed on 10 August 2014. 50 A copy of this article is attached to this complaint as Annex L. Taken from http://ro10.dole.gov.ph/default.php?retsamlakygee=356&resource=cfe6055d2e0503be378bb63449ec7ba6. Last accessed on 10 August 2014. 51 A copy of this article is attached to this complaint as Annex M. http://www.bicolmail.com/2012/?p=13798. Last accessed on 10 August 2014. 52 Affidavit of Ms. Guray, Note 31. 53 Annex A of the affidavit of Ms. Guray.

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on that day and its agenda. Rep. Tinio was informed of the same only by chance, when he heard a fellow congressman mention it at a hearing of another committee, and was thus able to attend it.

40. A  member  of  Tinio’s  staff  also  attended  the  hearing  and  made  an  

audio recording of a portion of the proceedings.54 41. Present during the hearing were Chairperson Patricia Licuanan

and Director Isabel Inlayo from the CHED, Director Cristy Clasara from the DBM, and State Auditor Julieta Escaño and Director Sofia Gemora from the Commission on Audit (COA), as well as staff of these departments together with House Members and their staff.

42. During the hearing, some disgruntled legislators present made

Chairperson Licuanan explain why their lists of recommended scholars were not being funded by CHED.

43. From the answers of Chairperson Licuanan, it was clear that she

knew that due to the Decision, legislators are now prohibited from taking part in the  implementation  of  CHED’s  scholarship  programs,  like  they  did  under  the  PDAF system.55 She explained that the COA on December 2013 issued the agency a negative audit observation.56

44. Chairperson Licuanan acknowledged said that due to the Supreme

Court decision on PDAF, some of the Regional Directors treated the P14 million allocation-per district as additional scholarships that they could award to qualified applicants from the general public. Pertaining to the earmarked funds from the realigned PDAF, Chairperson Licuanan  said  that  “We  told  them  [the Regional Directors] what the restrictions were. That actually, this is not true, you do not have P14 million per district na extra. This will really be for the congressmen.”

45. Chairperson Licuanan also explained that CHED publicized that

there are available scholarship slots, and thus opened the P4.1 billion-worth of scholarships to all applicants—but assured the legislators that CHED would give priority to the list of beneficiaries submitted by lawmakers:

54 Audio recording of the hearing (Annex N), attested by affidavit of Atty. Maneeka Asistol Sarza, Legislative Staff of Rep. Antonio L. Tinio (Annex O), with a transcript of the recording (Annex P). 55 SEC. LICUANAN: “I  know  I  don’t  have  the  refinements  of  whether  it’s  oversight  or  whatever  but  the fact is, my understanding  is  that,  well  you  used  the  term  earlier,  ‘illegal  post  intervention’.    So  in  other  words,  you  make  the  law,  you  don’t  implement  it.” 56 SEC. LICUANAN: “We  have  a  previous  encounter  with  the  Commission on Audit. They had a very serious audit observation levelled to us, report to us that essentially, the way we were handling some of the PDAF that came to us as well as the congressional scholarships we give out was different from our usual scholarships which follow the same set of CHED guidelines.

“That  was  even  before  PDAF  became  an  issue.    We  said,  all  right,  in  which  case,  we  will  make  sure  that the same guidelines prevail for all the scholarships that we handle, including the congressional ones.

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“So that was what we were doing. But the system, I guess, take time. x x x That’s   [the public announcement of available scholarship slots] our duty. We had a lot of grants, we have to make this public. But in our adjustments already internally, we said that priority would be given to the recommended—the listahan of the congressmen.”

x x x “Finally,  I  had  to  say,  “Okay,  people,  this  is  the  way  it  has  to  be.    I  know  this  was supposed to be illegal. Dapat wala na, but actually, meron pa.” 46. The Secretary added, “I  am  also…accepting the political reality

that  this  is  PDAF.”

47. From these facts, Aquino’s   impeachable   offenses   of   betrayal   of  public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution are evident.

FIRST IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE:

BETRAYAL OF PUBLIC TRUST

Aquino betrayed the public trust by perpetuating congressional pork through informal practices in defiance of the ruling of the Supreme Court, to the

detriment of public interest

Aquino also betrayed the public trust by breaking his oath that he will faithfully and conscientiously fulfil his duties as President and preserve and defend the Constitution, execute our laws, and do justice to every person

“Betrayal  of  public  trust”

48. On 30 June 2010, Aquino swore to all Filipinos thus: “Ako  si  Benigno  Aquino   III.    Matimtim  kong  pinanunumpaan  na  tutuparin  ko  nang buong katapatan at sigasig ang aking mga tungkulin bilang Pangulo ng Pilipinas, pangangalagaan at ipagtatanggol ang kanyang Konstitusyon, ipatutupad ang mga batas nito, magiging makatarungan sa bawat tao, at itatalaga ang aking sarili sa paglilingkod sa Bansa. Kasihan nawa ako ng Diyos.”57 49. The   SC  has   defined   “betrayal   of   public   trust”   as   “acts  which   are  

just short of being criminal but constitute gross faithlessness against public trust, tyrannical abuse of power, inexcusable negligence of duty, favoritism, and gross exercise of discretionary   powers.”58 They need not amount to 57 Seksyon 5, Artikulo VII, Saligang Batas ng Republika ng Pilipinas. 58 Gonzales v. Office of the President, G.R. No. 196231, 4 September 2012

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criminal offenses, but their commission proves that the public officer is unable to comply with his or her oath of office and refuses to serve the people.

50. According   to   the   SC,   the   ground   is   “broad   enough   to   cover any

violation  of  the  oath  of  office,”59 unless  the  same  is  attended  by  “human  error  and  good  faith.”60

51. The framers of the Constitution gave examples of acts constituting

betrayal of public trust, namely, betrayal of public interest, inexcusable negligence of duty, tyrannical abuse of power, breach of official duty by malfeasance or misfeasance, cronyism, and favoritism, among others. By the manner and degree that they are committed, these acts prejudice public interest and tend to bring the office into disrepute.61

52. By perpetuating congressional pork through informal practices in defiance of the ruling of the Supreme Court, Aquino violated his oath of office and betrayed public trust through wilful breach of official duty by malfeasance.

53. This offense to the people is compounded or made graver by his

act of deceiving the public, whom he led into believing that he will comply with the law against congressional pork and eliminate it once and for all, while secretly perpetuating it through informal arrangements between Congress and the departments under his command.

54. He knowingly, deliberately violates the Decision, which has the force and effect of a law enacted by Congress, by authorizing his Cabinet secretaries who head the agencies handling the funds formerly known as PDAF to set up informal practices enabling House Members to intervene, assume, or participate in the implementation of certain programs, including the exercise of discretion in the use of agency funds, during the budget execution stage.

55. Specifically, these programs are:

a. Assistance to Indigent Patients of the DOH,

59 Gonzales citing the Proceedings of the 1986 Constitutional Commission:

MR. REGALADO: [T]his is with respect to Section 2, on the grounds for impeachment, and I quote: “…culpable  violation  of  the  Constitution,  treason,  bribery,  other  high  crimes,  graft  and  corruption  or  betrayal  of  public  trust.” Just for the record, what would the Committee envision as a betrayal of the public trust which is not otherwise covered by the other terms antecedent thereto? MR. ROMULO: I think, if I may speak for the Committee and subject to further comments of Commissioner de los Reyes [the proponent of the addition of betrayal of public trust as a ground], the concept is that this is a catch-all phrase. Really, it refers to his oath of office, in the end that the idea of a public trust is connected with the oath of office of the officer, and if he violates that oath of office, then he has betrayed that trust.

60 Gonzales. 61 Proceedings of the 1986 Constitutional Commission. Commissioner De los Reyes

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b. Government Internship Program (GIP) and Tulong Panghanapbuhay   sa   Ating   Disadvantaged   Workers   “TUPAD”  Project of the DOLE,

c. Special Training for Employment Program of TESDA, d. Crisis Intervention Program of the DSWD, and e. Scholarship Program of the CHED.

56. Based on implementing guidelines subsequently issued by the

DOH, the Assistance to Indigent Patients is being implemented as the Medical Health Care Assistance Program62 or, as Undersecretary Garin refers to it, the Medical Assistance Program.63

57. In the case of CHED, its scholarship program is essentially being

implemented   as   the   “Special Study Grant Program for Congressional Districts.”64 Hidden congressional pork

58. The prohibited intervention of House Members in the implementation of these programs include the post-enactment identification of localities, hospitals, and schools in the case of DOH, CHED, and TESDA funds; the assignment of amounts that will be earmarked for and downloaded to each; and the identification of beneficiaries and the amount of financial assistance to be extended to them.

59. This system is  no  different  from  the  system  of  “soft  projects”  and  

their manner of implementation under the outlawed PDAF. 60. However, the whole system under the old PDAF is in black and

white—embodied in the Special Provisions for the PDAF item in the GAA, administrative issuances from the DBM and the implementing agencies, and memoranda of agreement between House Members and implementing agencies.

61. With the Belgica Decision, these written or formal practices have

now been prohibited. The PDAF item and any reference to it are not found in the 2014 GAA; neither can they be seen in the guidelines issued by the six mentioned agencies to implement their respective programs.

62 Note 34. 63 USEC. GARIN: “So  first  and  foremost  in  behalf  of  the  Department  of  Health,  allow  me  to  apologize  for  all  the chaos and confusions that the Medical Assistance Program has created.” 64 As mentioned by Region X. See Note 63.

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62. However, the SC foresaw that it will be possible to perpetuate the PDAF through informal practices,   and   thus   likewise   prohibited   “all   informal  practices of similar  import  and  effect”—meaning, even unwritten practices by which lawmakers are allowed to participate in any manner in the implementation of these programs. These practices will be difficult to document as they leave no paper trail explicitly acknowledging the entitlement of legislators to these funds and their role in the implementation of the programs.

63. Informal practices in the PDAF and PDAF-like schemes necessarily

require the cooperation between the department and the legislator. It will be necessary, then, to establish the linkages between them and the protocols they use in the course of this unlawful cooperation.

64. Such linkages and protocols are sufficiently described in (1) the

hearing   of   the   House   Committee   on   Appropriations   on   the   CHED’s  implementation of its scholarship programs, (2) the briefing by Undersecretary Garin with House Members and their staff, both conducted within the very grounds of the House of Representatives, and (3) the public statements of the Regional Directors of DOLE. As admitted   and   acknowledged   by   Aquino’s   cabinet  secretaries and other executive officials, the congressional pork barrel continues to exist despite the ruling against it

65. Aquino, after the Decision announced to the public, through his communications secretary, that his administration “will   comply   with   the  decision of the Supreme Court (SC) declaring the Priority Development Assistance   Fund   (PDAF)   unconstitutional.” From the very words of the announcement, plus (1) the fact that his administration did not move for the reconsideration of the ruling and  (2)  his  earlier  announcement  that  “it  is  time  to  abolish  the  PDAF,” Aquino had no purpose other than to mislead the public into believing that they have seen the last of congressional pork barrel.

66. However, congressional pork is really not gone but has merely

gone into hiding, with the full knowledge and under the instructions of Aquino. This is evident from the admissions of his cabinet secretaries and regional directors of at least three agencies to which the House pork was realigned.

67. Faced with the negative COA observation and the Belgica

Decision, Chairperson Licuanan admitted during the Appropriations Committee hearing that CHED had to go through the motions of publicly announcing the availability of scholarship slots and applying their general

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guidelines on scholarships, but to her, the entitlement of lawmakers to name the scholars remain—“But  in  our  adjustments  already  internally,  we  said  that  priority would be given to the recommended—the listahan of the congressmen.”   Most telling are her following statements:

a. “I   know   this   [giving   priority   to   lawmakers’   lists   of   referred  scholars] was supposed to be illegal. Dapat wala na, but actually, meron pa.” b. “I  am  also  accepting  the  political  reality  that  this  is  PDAF.”

68. For her part, Undersecretary Garin clearly stated that the P3.2

billion MAP funds for medical assistance are the funds of lawmakers: “So   the   decision   of   the   Department is to do away with all walk-in patients because in the first place it was made clear to us that these funds are not DOH funds but are actually funds of Congressmen who are there  to  assist  their  constituents.”

69. “Additionally, she made it clear that it is the lawmakers who will

identify   the   beneficiaries   of  medical   assistance:   “Okay,   so the qualifications will be a recommendation from the MAP officials, and who are the MAP officials? Kayo yan, these are the Congressman or your designated personnel.”

70. The Regional Director of DOLE-XII, admitted in her press release

that DOLE-XII is implementing the GIP and TUPAD programs in close coordination with the eight congressional representatives of her region, even to  the  point  of   inviting  the   latter  to  prepare  their  “work  plans”  which  will  be  the  “basis  for  the  release of funds.” In the case of

71. Considering the scope and significance of the mechanisms

described, the admissions of these officials from three agencies under Aquino’s watch betray the Executive Branch’s—Aquino’s—design to institute systems that allows the treatment of funds under its management as the lawmakers’,   to   be   disbursed   per   these   politicians’   discretion   and   not   the  agencies’.

As   admitted   and   acknowledged   by   Aquino’s   cabinet  secretaries and other executive officials, the agencies handling the House pork still set aside personal lump sums for House Members which they can tap and disburse according to their discretion

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72. Also admitted were the specific earmarked amounts which were tucked into  the  five  agencies  after  the  “realignment”  of  PDAF. From the forum conducted   by   Undersecretary   Garin,   the   “closed-door”   meeting   of   the  Committee on Appropriations with Secretary Licuanan, and the press statements issued by the three DOLE Regions, the amounts of House pork handled by DOH, CHED, and DOLE, are proven to be P3.19 billion, P4.1 billion, and P1.02 billion, respectively. Also admitted are the allocations of each House Member: P10.5 million, P14 million, and P3.5 million, respectively.

73. As shown by the meetings and public statements, the

implementing agencies consider these per-district allocations as personal lump sums of each legislator—a lawmaker recommends or refers beneficiaries to the agencies, and the latter is bound by such recommendation and referral.

74. Chairperson Licuanan admitted that she informed her Regional

Directors of the restrictions against legislators naming the scholars post-GAA, “But   actually,   this   is   not   true,   you   do   not   have   P14  million   per   district   na extra. This will really be for the congressmen.”

75. “We  had  a  lot  of  grants,  we  have  to  make  this  public.    But in our

adjustments already internally, we said that priority would be given to the recommended—the listahan of the congressmen.”

76. Undersecretary Garin also proved this entitlement granted to the

legislators: a. “Okay,  so  the qualifications will be a recommendation from the MAP officials,  and  who  are  the  MAP  officials?    Kayo  ‘yan, these are the Congressman or your designated personnel.” b. “We have a directory that will be given to you and that will be e-mailed to all your offices. In that directory, there are two persons in-charge of all hospitals, so makikita ninyo dun sa directory, andidito yung mga pangalan ng mga hospitals and then kung sino yung contact person na tatawagan ninyo. So, for any problem, you immediately call, text or e-mail the persons in-charge of that hospital and automatically they will issue a guarantee letter direct to your office and direct to the hospital.” c. “We  will not  let  the  patient  wait.    We  will  not  let  your  office  wait.” 77. DOLE-XII Regional Director Domingo stated, “The   decision   as   to  

how much the legislators would allocate for emergency funds and the Government Internship Program (GIP) depends on the congressional representative.” This,  after  she  held  “a  meeting  with  the  eight   legislators   in  

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SOCCKSARGEN or their representatives to inform the latter of the availability of the said budget.”     Per the approved announcement of DOLE-X Regional Director Atty. Alan M. Macaraya, “Interested  applicants   are   advised   to   visit  their  respective  Congressional  Districts  Offices.” Aquino’s   cabinet   secretaries   and   other   executive  officials demonstrated that they have put in place procedures and mobilized a significant amount of personnel and resources to enable lawmakers to exercise illegal post-enactment authority over the programs funded by the House pork

78. The meetings with Secretary Licuanan65 and Undersecretary Garin66 detail the procedures by which their executive agencies allow the exercise by legislators of post-enactment authority beyond oversight. These procedures are enabled through the mobilization of a significant amount of personnel and resources. The public statements of the Regional Directors67 that they involved solons in the formulation of work plans for the GIP and TUPAD Programs and their advice to applicants to visit the district offices of these solons are glaring official admissions of this fact.

79. The mechanisms for CHED essentially consist of its regional offices ostensibly following the general guidelines for all scholarship programs but, following   “internal   adjustments,”   “priority would be given to the recommended—the listahan of the congressmen.”

80. For DOH, the mechanisms involve tremendous resources of the

agency, including personnel in 136 covered hospitals who  are  on  call  “24/7”  to  automatically issue guarantee letters (which   are   “good   as   cash”) to patients referred by lawmakers.

81. For DOLE, the mechanisms consist of the granting of slots for

emergency employment or government internship in accordance with the “work  plans”  set  up  by  the  solons.    

82. For DSWD, it was shown that Secretary Dinky Soliman herself has

made arrangements with at least one solon to allow him to identify the local governments where the assistance funds will be distributed. This also shows that the DILG is also in on the informal schemes allowing illegal post-enactment intervention.

65 Paragraphs 44 to 46 of this Complaint. 66 Paragraphs 30 to 31 of this Complaint. 67 Paragraphs 32 to 33 of this Complaint.

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83. The innocuous identification by legislators of beneficiaries prior to the enactment of the 2014 GAA, granting but not conceding that they indeed occurred pre-GAA, inevitably extends to the prohibited meddling of individual lawmakers into the functions of the implementing agency post-GAA.

84. The totality of these circumstances show a grand design—across

executive agencies, relating to billions of public monies, and involving at least seven   top   members   of   Aquino’s   cabinet68—which cannot possibly occur without the knowledge and license of Aquino. This grand design consists of the Executive Branch bending over backwards to allow congressional pork barrel to live on through hidden means—something already prohibited by the law as pronounced by the Supreme Court.

The  mechanisms   admitted   by   Aquino’s   alter   egos   and  subordinates are necessarily informal—to conceal from the public the persistence of congressional pork barrel and the fact that the Chief Executive is subverting the law and public institutions

85. In the case of CHED, it is the Chairperson of the agency herself—the alter ego of the President—who  demonstrated  awareness  of  “the  political  reality  that  this  is  PDAF,”  retaining all the infirmities of the old, written system where legislators identify who should receive the funds, to be handed out according to this legislator’s   list  regardless  of  the  qualifications  set  by  CHED’s  guidelines.

86. Also part of the prohibited informal practices is the unwritten

understanding (that is, not in the 2014 GAA, the guidelines, or any of the issuances of CHED) that each House Member has specific earmarked amounts that can be distributed in the form of scholarships, medical or financial assistance, internships, and emergency employment.

87. These  informal  practices  are  evidence  of  Aquino’s  bad  faith.    Any  

governmental act, especially one involving billions of public funds, should have a basis and/or proof in writing, considering the state policy of transparency in the management of public resources and accountability of public officers. Nowhere in the guidelines governing the implementation of the MHCAP, for instance, is there an indication that an indigent patient is one who has walked into   a   solon’s   office   first   before   walking   into   the   hospital,   or   that   medical  assistance will be surely be issued upon the recommendation of a legislator. The  guidelines  for  CHED’s  scholarships  have even removed any apparent trace of the old Congressional Special Study Grant Program, and yet, priority is still

68 The five agencies plus DBM and DILG.

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being  given   to  “the   listahan of   the  congressmen,”   following  CHED’s  “internal  adjustments.”

88. The culture of recommendation and referral is still occurring

within executive agencies handling House pork despite the absence of written grounds for it. Indeed, there will be no written grounds for it. The Executive Branch is hiding the pork from the public whom he has misled into believing Aquino  when  he  said  “Panahon na po upang i-abolish ang PDAF.”

89. Informal practices of dealing with pork do continue to exist in

post-PDAF times, like the informal practices relating to PDAF have persisted and been constantly observed throughout the years.69

90. As the news reports and official government sources above prove,

these concealed practices cannot help but surface, the conspiracy to perpetuate a noxious system mutually beneficial to fellow pork-holders and influence-peddlers cannot be kept hidden. Even hidden under the cloak of executive secrecy, public officials such as Members of the House of Representatives, state auditors, even one of the secretaries handling the implementation of funds which turn out to be still pork will surely come out in the open and express their opposition to pork and its inevitable expenditure for political patronage and matters other than public purposes. With his perpetuation of these informal practices, Aquino is the mastermind behind hidden congressional pork, and is forcing the entire bureaucracy of the involved agencies to implement illegal acts

91. As stated above, Chairperson Licuanan is the alter ego of the President for CHED. Her knowledge of the persistence of PDAF, although in another  form,  and  her  agency’s  actions  in  implementing  scholarship  programs,  are likewise the knowledge and actions of Aquino, her principal. The actions of Undersecretary Garin, as they concern affairs with the Congress and relate to billions of pesos in public funds and a major program in which grand resources and personnel of the DOH are mobilized, are also the actions of Aquino.

92. Aquino’s  other alter ego, his budget chief Secretary Abad, defends

the  “realignments”  of  legislators  and  their  “duty”  to  recommend.    In  addition  to the totality of circumstances already detailed, this pig-headed defense of congressional   pork   shows   that   Aquino   is   (1)   fully   aware   that   the   legislators’  post-enactment authority or their entitlement to particular earmarked funds prohibited by the Decision is alive and oinking in the post-PDAF budget and (2)

69 The Decision, page 43.

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also fully aware of, if not endorsing, the outlawed informal practices going on within his Cabinet. These circumstances are not coincidental but reflect a common, overarching policy to retain a system already outlawed by the SC.

93. In the midst of all these, Aquino has never issued a categorical

directive or mere statement confirming the Decision as to the outlawed participation of lawmakers in program or project implementation and that he will brook no violation of this law under any of the agencies under his leadership on the national and local levels.

94. The statements and acts, including the how-to-access meetings,

are ascribed to the heads of agencies—that is, members of his cabinet and his alter egos—their local alterns, and legislators who are members of his Liberal Party and its coalition. Secondly, these are not incidents isolated in one agency or locality but well-reported,  even  by  Aquino’s  own  PIA,  to  be  occurring  as an open secret in all the agencies above and in the provinces and regions.

95. Being the Chief Executive, no major policy is implemented in the

departments, bureaus, and offices he heads—especially one that is universal to those given the realigned funds and involving a significant amount of public funds—without his knowledge and consent.

96. At  the  very  least,  the  “take-care  clause”  makes  it  Aquino’s  duty  to  

exercise the greatest diligence to ensure that inviting and allowing legislators to refer and recommend projects and beneficiaries in any manner beyond their limited role of oversight do not occur. His denial, therefore, of these informal practices in the face of indisputable reports, granting for the sake of argument that he really does not know what is going on in his agencies, is an admission of negligence in the performance of his duties.

97. While  Aquino’s  cabinet  secretaries  are  the  chief  implementors  of  

hidden congressional pork, those in the entire bureaucracy down to the smallest government employee tasked to secure the secrecy of a purported “closed   door   meeting”   or   assigned   as   a   “hospital   assigned   staff”   or   focal  person for scholarships and internship are forced to commit illegal acts. These rank-and-file officials are under orders to allow legislators to name beneficiaries of programs, long after their role as legislators is done. They are turned into instruments with which Aquino can flout the law. By perpetuating congressional pork through informal practices, Aquino prejudices the public interest

98. The SC through the Decision has prohibited congressional pork

barrel in whatever name and form for being abhorrent to separation of

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powers, non-delegability of legislative power, the   President’s   veto   power,  public accountability, and  genuine  local  autonomy.    It  also  echoed  the  people’s  observation   that   the   President   and   Congress   are   “happily scratching each other’s   back   in   the  pork   barrel   system,”   damaging   the   public   interest   in   the process. This damage is well known to the public.

99. Well documented—and an open secret—is the nature of

congressional pork as largesse distributed by the President to lawmakers, either  to  secure  their  cooperation  especially  for  the  executive’s  pet  bills, or protect him or her from impeachment.    Aquino’s  immediate  successor,  Gloria  Macapagal Arroyo, used pork as well as other perks to thwart five impeachment complaints against her since 2005 over strong charges of electoral fraud and other constitutional violations, even as she consistently denied it to progressive legislators critical to her, especially those who supported her impeachment.70

100. As congressional pork is the grease that turns the wheels of

Congress in the direction dictated by the President, so it is also the grease that allows accountability for irregularities to slough off from the executive branch, especially its chief. Under the pork barrel system, legislators, individually or collectively, intrude into the implementation of projects and programs—which should be the sole province of the executive branch. This intrusion in turn impairs the objectivity of the legislators whose duties as members of congress include overseeing whether the projects and programs are being implemented properly, or at all, by the executive branch. This dilution, even defeat, of the checks and balances system is well articulated in the Decision.

101. From the meetings with Secretary Licuanan and Undersecretary

Garin, the evils sought to be prevented by the prohibition against PDAF are still present  with   the  perpetuation  of  Aquino’s  PDAF-like schemes for the hidden congressional pork.

102. The protocols in the MAP as described by Garin to legislators

amply demonstrate how the system of checks and balances—a mechanism that gives life to the Constitutional provision of accountability of public officers—is dissolved. First, her audience and the ones who aided in the drafting of the MAP guidelines are those who are duty-bound to check her Department in its implementation of the funds, investigating whenever necessary  whether   taxpayers’  money   are   properly   and   efficiently   spent.    As the SC said in its Decision, Congress cannot be expected to exercise its oversight function objectively, or at all, if its Members were part of the program to be investigated.71

70 CenPEG, Note 7. 71 The Decision, pages 51-52.

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103. The SC added, “[A]llowing legislators to intervene in the various

phases of project implementation—a matter before another office of government—renders them susceptible to taking undue advantage of their own   office.”72 Indeed, allowing legislators to approve guidelines for the distribution   of   what   the   DOLE   deems   are   “not   DOH   funds   but   are   actually  funds  of  Congressmen”  and  giving  them  power  to  say  who  exactly  should  get  these funds, renders them susceptible to taking advantage of their power.

104. The second way in congressional pork destroys the system of

exacting the accountability of public officials is seen in the deletion in the guidelines of standards that would at least ensure that public funds are not given to just anybody, especially those who should not qualify for an assistance were it not for the endorsement of the House Member. DOH has waived several documentary evidence previously required under the PDAF like original complete prescriptions for medicines and medical supplies, laboratory requests,  physician’s  order   request   forms,  and   statements  of  account,  which  would have ensured that the funds will go to those who really need them, not to a Napoles-type individual or a fake NGO.

105. The hearing with Secretary Licuanan shows that CHED’s  

guidelines on scholarships are being reduced to lip service, if not completely erased,   with   the   priority   status   accorded   to   “the   listahan of the congressmen.” These guidelines, such as those with regard to priority courses or the requirement to submit lists of actual scholars prior to downloading of funds to the higher education institutions, are safeguards that would ensure that the public funds appropriated for scholarships will indeed go to scholarships, and not for other purposes, including political accommodation and patronage. As  aptly  observed  by  one  daily,  “In  the  first  place,  the  primary  reason for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was to safeguard public funds by ensuring that it is used entirely for the welfare  of  the  people  and  not  for  the  benefit  of  legislators.”73

106. But the deeper injury caused by congressional pork, like any

other kind of pork, lies in the denial of equal access of the people to basic social services. This happens in either of two ways.

107. First refers to the culture of referral and recommendation

coming from politicians so ingrained in our society through decades of the pork barrel system. Due to this practice, only persons who carry guarantee letters or referrals can afford a medical check-up or procedure, or enrol in

72 Ibid, page 52 73 CHED’s  priority  courses  for  scholarship  grantees,  Catanduanes Tribune, 3 May 2014. http://www.catanduanestribune.com/article/3R1P. Last accessed on 10 August 2014.

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college, or receive employment assistance. Those unlucky enough not to have these golden tickets given by politicians will have to forego going to the clinic or a higher education. Instead of enjoying services which are supposed to be theirs for the taking as a matter of right, the people under pork have to knock on the doors of politicians to seek patronage or influence before they could they avail of these services—as matter of privilege.

108. The MAP guidelines have even strengthened this culture.

Whereas under the PDAF, guarantee letters are required, a hospital under the MAP guidelines can even issue a guarantee letter to a person with just one call of the House Member in case the funds have not yet been downloaded to the his or her chosen hospital. Also under MAP, patients referred by politicians are guaranteed of assistance—“We  will   not   let   the   patient  wait.    We  will  not   let  your  office  wait,”   said  Undersecretary  Garin  on  behalf  of   the  DOH.

109. Worse, “walk-ins” in government hospitals, or those who went

straight to the hospital without first securing a guarantee letter, are disallowed. It is the politician who has the power to determine if a patient is “worthy”  of  assistance—not the needs of the patient, not the social workers and doctors and other medical personnel who have the competence to determine these needs.

110. Under this hidden, worsened congressional pork, what should be

right of everyone is now seen as a privilege. Under this system already banned by the highest court of the land, people who get sick should not call the doctor—they should call a politician. Those who cannot fully afford a college education, at their young age, are taught that they need to seek powerful patrons first before they can continue their studies. The same goes for the unemployed before they can get ease their joblessness and earn income while in between jobs.

111. Under this hidden, worsened congressional pork being

perpetuated by Aquino, the delivery of basic public services such as education, health care, social welfare, and employment assistance is politicized. The politicization of services denies access to the majority of the Filipino people who have neither the means nor the clout to go to the district offices of legislators or the House of Representatives in Quezon City. This is the evil when we course the delivery of basic social services to politicians.

112. There is a second manner in which equal access of the people to

basic social services is denied. The practice of putting gigantic lump sums (which the SC said to have fattened through 23 years at least 12 times74) 74 From P2.3 billion in 1990 to P24.79 billion in 2013. The Decision, page 17.

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which are to be disbursed per the discretion of a sole or a few individual officials have consistently denied the people of genuine and longer-term investments for services and infrastructure for their welfare. The people under pork have been forced to forgo 12,500 classrooms which could have been built with the P10 billion PDAF pocketed by Napoles, her political cohorts, and fake NGOs, and lost P74.3 billion—the total PDAF budgeted by the Aquino administration75—that could have more than adequately equipped and sustained schools, hospitals, and other public infrastructure, and spent for job creation.

113. It should be noted that the people—the victims of pork—demand

for the abolition of the pork barrel system because it deprives them of basic social services even as it leaves the government open for those who wish to exploit its resources for personal use, including political patronage. Aquino and his subalterns spit in the face of this public sentiment by using the people  as  scapegoats  in  their  argument  for  the  “necessity”  of  the  culture  of  patronage central to pork:

“Interviewed   in   the   House   of   Representatives,   Abad said it is still the legislators’  duty  to  attend  to  their  constituents’  needs  even  if  they  no  longer  have the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to fund it. “‘There’s  nothing  wrong  if  legislators  recommend  projects  kasi trabaho nila ‘yan’,  Abad  said.    ‘Otherwise,  magagalit ang constituents nila.’

x x x “Abad said lawmakers had to retain the privilege of lobbying with government agencies because they have constituents they need to take care of. “‘Instead   of   completely   deleting   [the   PDAF]   in   the   budget,   Congress   just  decided to reallocate it because there are scholars, people undergoing dialysis  who  need  help.    We   can’t   just   suddenly  pull   the  plug  on   that’,   he  said. “Abad,   however,   insisted   that   the   practice   of   recommending   projects   does  not   circumvent   the   Supreme   Court’s   ruling on the PDAF, which bans lawmakers from intervening or participating in any of the various post-enactment  stages  of  the  budget  execution.”76

75 Aquino more than doubled the congressional pork dispensed annually to the men and women of Congress, from the P10,861,211,000 (GAA 2010) under the Arroyo administration to P24,620,000,000 (GAA 2011). 76 Abad  defends  lawmakers’  practice  of  recommending  projects  to  govt  agencies,  5  March  2014,  http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/351235/news/nation/abad-defends-lawmakers-practice-of-recommending-projects-to-govt-agencies. Last accessed on 10 August 2014.

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114. Aquino and his administration defended the act of tucking the discretionary lump sum fund formerly known as PDAF into the budgets of the agencies. His budget Secretary Florencio Abad, exhibiting his rejection of the Belgica decision, was quoted as saying that political patronage is expected, and should even be tolerated:

“‘Pork’  still  working  for  lawmakers “Abad:  What’s  wrong  with  political  patronage? “MANILA,  Philippines—Budget Secretary Florencio Abad sees nothing wrong with lawmakers asking the executive agencies that received the realigned congressional pork barrel funds to help their constituents seeking medical assistance, scholarships and the like. “Abad  said  lawmakers  can  refer  their  constituents  to  the  agencies  as  this was part of their job and their duties as representatives of the people. “As   to   concerns   that   this   would   only   perpetuate   the   evils of political patronage, Abad said political patronage will continue to exist as long as poverty remains and people continue to ask for help from their representatives. 115. “‘There has always been political patronage. You know why?

Because people will always go to their representatives. When they wake up in  the  morning,  when  they’re  in  Manila,  people  line  up  and  ask  for  help.    Can  you  eliminate  that?    That’s  something  you  cannot  eliminate.    Until  we  are  able  to address rather substantially the problem of poverty, people will always find a  way  to  go  to  their  mayor,  governor,  congressman,’  he  told  reporters  at  the  House  of  Representatives.”77 By perpetuating congressional pork through informal practices, Aquino is committing, at the maximum, malfeasance in the performance of his official duties or, at the minimum, nonfeasance

116. The above discussion shows that at the maximum, Aquino has breached of his oath of office through malfeasance by perpetuating congressional pork through informal practices, something which is prohibited by law. The law says that he should not deal pork to Members of Congress, yet he violates this law.

117. At the minimum, Aquino has breached of his oath of office

through nonfeasance by failing, upon official and unofficial reports that informal practices of accessing pork still occur, despite the Decision, in at least three of his agencies. The law, even the fundamental law of the land, says 77 Supra, Note 25. Emphases supplied.

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that he should do all within his power to faithfully and conscientiously execute the laws78 by installing policies against referral and recommendation by lawmakers and stopping the violations already reported, yet he fails to do so.

118. His violation of his sworn duties perpetuates political patronage

and works to the detriment of public interest, depriving the people of equal access to basic social services.

119. In sum, Aquino, by retaining the congressional pork barrel

through informal acts in violation of the SC Decision prohibiting them, has betrayed public trust, a treachery to the people compounded by his false assurance that his administration will comply with the said Decision.

120. It is clear, then, from the foregoing that Aquino is guilty of the

impeachable offense of betrayal of public trust.

SECOND IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE: CULPABLE VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION

Aquino knowingly, wilfully, and intentionally violated Section 17, Article VII of the Constitution by perpetuating informal practices of congressional pork barrel in defiance of the clear and express prohibition of the Supreme Court

“Culpable  violation  of  the  Constitution”

121. Aquino’s   malfeasance   and   nonfeasance   as   regards   the   law   on  congressional pork barrel discussed in the foregoing paragraphs amount to his culpable violation of the Constitution.

122. According to the framers of the Constitution,   “culpable  violation  

of  the  Constitution”  means  (1)  wilful  and  (2)  intentional  breach  or  violation  of  the Constitution. Commentaries explain that this offense covers violations committed intentionally, voluntarily, in bad faith, and not due to errors of law or honest mistake of judgment.79

123. Since the ground is provided for by the Constitution, a document

ratified by ordinary people, the term is understood to have its ordinary

78 Sections 5 and 17, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution. 79 Bernas, citing Aruego, The Framing of the Constitution of the Philippines (1939); and Report of the Special Committee on the Impeachment of President Quirino (1949).

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meaning. Thus,   “culpable   violation”   can   take  on   the  ordinary  or   layperson’s  term—deserving blame, or guilty of doing something wrong.80

124. “Culpable  violation”  can  also  take  the  meaning  of  “culpability” in

criminal law, that is, lack of foresight or skill (criminal negligence), freedom of action, and knowledge or intelligence accompanying the act of violation.

125. Whether in the ordinary or legal sense, Aquino committed

culpable violation of the Constitution by his maintenance and defense of the congressional pork barrel through informal practices. Aquino is duty-bound to faithfully and conscientiously execute the laws yet he violates the law against congressional pork barrel

126. Section 17, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution made the faithful execution of the laws one of the primary duties of the President:

“The President shall have control of all the executive departments, bureaus, and offices. He shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed.”81

127. Due to Article 8 of the Civil Code, this duty of the President

extends to jurisprudential pronouncements: “Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form a part of the legal system of the Philippines.”

128. In Arturo de Castro v. Judicial and Bar Council,82 the High Court

explained in unequivocal terms the force and effectivity of jurisprudence:

“Judicial decisions assume the same authority as a statute itself and, until authoritatively abandoned, necessarily become, to the extent that they are applicable, the criteria that must control the actuations, not only of those called upon to abide by them, but also of those duty-bound to enforce obedience to them.” 129. The SC in this pronouncement pertains to decisions promulgated

by all courts having judicial power83 especially itself, which wields the highest judicial authority. It also pertains to all persons including public officials mandated to abide and enforce laws especially the President, who is the chief of all law-enforcement authority. 80 Merriam-Webster. 81 Or  the  “take  care  clause.”    Emphases  supplied. Also, the oath of the President in Section 5, Article VII. 82 G.R. No. 191002, 20 April 2010. 83 Section 1, Article VIII of the Constitution.

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130. Despite the clear and express prohibition of the SC, Aquino

perpetuates informal practices of congressional pork barrel. This act amounts to a violation of a pronouncement of no less than the highest judicial authority by no less than the highest law-enforcement authority, so soon after that decision is promulgated and in the amount of at least P25 billion.

131. Aquino’s  violation   is  wilful  and  deliberate  as   it   is  being  done   in  

the face of a clear and express pronouncement of the SC. Furthermore, beyond his fundamental duty to faithfully execute an express prohibition of the law, Aquino, being the President of the Republic, knows that all these principles have constitutional underpinnings and are the very bases of a working democratic and transparent government.

132. The  gravity  of  Aquino’s  sins  to  the  Filipino  people  is  evident  in  the  

clear, mandatory, and all-encompassing words of the Belgica decision.    “For  as  long  as  this  nation  adheres  to  the  rule  of  law,”  said  the  High  Court,  “any of the multifarious unconstitutional methods and mechanisms the Court has herein pointed out should never again be adopted in any system of governance, by any name or form, by any semblance or similarity, by any influence or effect.”    Stressing  the  nature  of  these  violations,  the  Court  added  that  informal  practices,   though   unwritten,   are   likewise   “acts   of   grave   abuse   of   discretion amounting  to  lack  or  excess  of  jurisdiction.”

133. From the foregoing, Aquino is clearly guilty of the impeachable

offense of culpable violation of the Constitution.

CLOSING

134. Complainants’   accusation   is   simple:   The Supreme Court has laid

down the law clearly and expressly prohibiting congressional pork barrel including informal practices of dealing it. President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has no choice but to implement this law, yet he perpetuates congressional pork barrel by instituting hidden, unwritten means that allow legislators to intrude into the areas of budget implementation and themselves decide where the congressional pork should go. This violation of the law erodes the system of checks and balances, perpetuates political patronage, and deprives the people of their rights to basic social services.

135. We have here someone expected by the public and the

Constitution to take the lead in implementing the law, yet he is the one who instructs his alter egos to violate it, or at the very least, sits down and does nothing about the widespread violation happening right under his nose.

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136. In filing this impeachment complaint, Complainants do not wish to deprive the  people  lining  up  outside  legislators’  offices  in  the  hopes of securing a scholarship, or medical, financial, or social welfare assistance of the economic amelioration that congressional pork surely affords them. Complainants are saying that no Filipino should ever have to knock on the doors of politicians before they could avail of basic social services, all of which should be theirs by a matter of right.

137. This is the purpose of the demand for the abolition not just of

PDAF but also of any scheme like it—the rechanneling of these public funds to sustain and promote basic social services and the complete transparency and accountability in the management of these funds. All the government has to do is ensure that every peso is spent to provide for the needs of the people—not  for  “pogi points”  of  any  public  official,  not  to  line  the  pockets  of  the few, and not for the political leverage of those in power.

138. Aquino’s  position that there is nothing wrong with the supposed

entitlement of legislators to large chunks of public funds, that patronage will always be there, shows that he does not heed this demand for the abolition of congressional pork along with all forms of pork barrel.

139. There is no doubt, therefore, why he has erected mechanisms

across several of his agencies and mobilized significant public resources to allow   the   enabling   of   unconstitutional   legislators’   entitlement   and   their  consequent intervention in budget implementation.

140. Complainants have found that Aquino has thrown away their

faith. They call on Congress to institute the only proceedings allowed by the Constitution by which he can be made to explain his breach of fealty to public interest and culpable violation of the Constitution and, eventually, be removed from office.

RELIEF

PREMISES CONSIDERED, Complainants pray that the House of Representatives Committee on Justice declare that this impeachment complaint is SUFFICIENT IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE and that there is PROBABLE CAUSE TO IMPEACH PRESIDENT BENIGNO SIMEON COJUANCGO AQUINO III.

Other reliefs just and equitable under the premises are prayed for. Quezon City, 11 August 2014.

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ASSISTED BY:

MANEEKA ASISTOL SARZA Roll No. 57897

IBP LRNo. 011274/12-17-12 PTR No. 7621794/3-17-14/Quezon City MCLE Compliance IV-0023102/2-26-14

Provisional Transcript

Audio Recording of meeting of Department of Health Undersecretary Janette Garin with Members of the House of Representatives and their staff to discuss the DOH

Medical Assistance Program

Andaya Hall, Batasang Pambansa

May 20, 2014

Usec. Garin: Good afternoon   everybody,   I’m   Dr.   Janette Garin representing the Department of Health. I was actually with the House of Representatives for the past nine years. So first and foremost in behalf of the Department of Health, allow me to apologize for all the chaos and confusions that the Medical Assistance Program has created. Admittedly, there were a lot of lapses in our end, guidelines were being amended I believe for 3 times. So pasensya po sa nangyari, precise for me to say that last week before the Secretary left for Geneva, this whole program was transferred to my office. I willingly and gladly accepted because I look at my position as something that was given to me with confidence and something that placed be there because of the teachings of my previous mentors in the House of Representatives like boss Tito Raul Del Mar, so andidito po ako ngayon, we admit medyo marami ang mga reklamo, medyo marami ang confusions, so I hope, I hope you will allow us to apologize for that, but also allow us to have a little breathing space.

For the past two days we actually reviewed all the, everything that we had that has happened, including the guidelines, including the process, and precise for me to say that admittedly most of the lapses were on the part of the Department that we admit and the guidelines that was given to you was in contrary to the initial guidelines that I presented to the Speaker and the officers of the House. Hence it became more tedious. So we actually have a new set of guidelines, so we’ll  be  giving  it in awhile. Just to mention few things. The previous administrative order that the secretary signed will now be amended by the new AO that he signed before he left for Geneva so just to clearly point out, well the, the GAA states that the eligible patients are the indigent patients so nagkakaroon po ng maraming confusion because yung   iba  kasi  they,  there’s  alot  of  definition  to   indigent  patients  so   for  this  purpose  we defined the patients as MAP indigent patients. Okay, so the qualifications will be a recommendation from the MAP officials, and who are the MAP officials? Kayo yan, these are the Congressmen or your designated personnel.

So yun po ang nangyayari and the eligible patient are all patients admitted or seeking consult in a government health care facility. Now on the implementing mechanism, we also learned that because it was going together with PAU or the Public Assistance Unit of the Department of Health, nagkaroon ng maraming requirements so on the provision of Medical Assistance there were requirements as to the original complete prescription for medicines and medical supplies, the original laboratory request, the original  physician’s    order  request  form  and  the  statement  of  account  all  of  this,  so  for  your previous guidelines under Section 4, B that whole paragraph has been deleted so  we,   the  new  guidelines   that  you  have  now,   it’s   totally  deleted  kasi  andudun  nga  yung sinasabi ninyo na pinapabalik-balik yung pasyente, totoo yun kasi hinahanap yung mga original request and the patient has to look for the doctor to sign it and that task alone is very tedious kasi yung doktor minsan nag-ra-rounds, minsan nasa ibang…  so  lahat  ng  requirements  na  yun  mawawala  yun,  also  the  hospitals,  we  had  a  meeting with them last week and he said of a single contact person they are required to have at least two contact persons in-charge of this program, the directory of which we will give to you in awhile.

On the previous guidelines, there were also a, a, a table that reflected the guidelines in terms of DOH-retained Hospital facilities and the non-DOH-retained hospital, hospitals and health care facilities. Okay, basically the problem was this, for the DOH-retained  health  facilities,  mali  naman  po  talaga,  lalo  na  pag  sinasabi  nila  na  “uy,  sorry  po wala   po   ditong   pondo   yung   Congressman   ninyo,”   hindi   po   talaga   dapat   sabihin  yun. Okay, so we already called the attention of all the chief of hospitals and in-fact a memo has been released to them last Friday.

So we will have three procedures, unang-una po yung pinapakiusap ng lahat na downloading ng funds, the finance department, the finance section of the Department of Health has facilitated that, but we understand that, because of bureaucracy, minsan natatagalan. So if your funds are already downloaded in the DOH hospitals. So I repeat unang-una po downloading of funds to DOH Hospitals including retained hospitals that includes the regional medical centers and specialty hospitals if your office has funds there, you can transact directly with them yung point person nandudun, second, if in case nagpadala kayo ng pasyente, pagkapadala ninyo ng pasyente sinabi ay wala po ditong pondo yung opisina ninyo which usually happens, this is something that we admit should not happen but unfortunately the process of requesting the funds and downloading it takes a lot of time. So the proposal that we have in this case kung saka-sakaling pagdating, wala diyaan, walang pondo yung office or whatever, we have a directory that will be given to you and that will be e-mailed to all your offices. In that directory, there are two persons in-charge

of all hospitals, so makikita ninyo dun sa directory, andidito yung mga pangalan ng mga hospitals and then kung sino yung contact person na tatawagan ninyo. So for any problem, you immediately call, text or e-mail the persons in-charge of that hospital and automatically they will issue a guarantee letter direct to your office and direct to the hospital.

Kung saka-sakaling hindi pa natanggap ng hospital, dala-dala na ng pasyente ninyo yan kasi ibibigay ng office ninyo pero kung yung pasyente naman nasa hospital, dun din  niya  kukunin.  It’s  just  like  an  alternative,  kung  in  case  wala  pa  yung  pondo  ninyo  dun sa specific na hospital. In that way, we will not let the patient wait, we will not let your office wait and if the patient will be discharged on that day or the day after, the guarantee letter will be honoured. We also understand na yung guarantee letter na unang  nirelease,  medyo  yung   format,   I  mean   it’s   good,   it’s  okay.  Unfortunately   the format creates a lot of questions kasi nga parang  it’s,  it’s  an  indigency  program of the DOH.  Nawawalan  ngayon  ng,   let’s admit it the political points in, in the case of the office requesting it kasi ang nakapirma dun is Asec. Lagajid and it was placed there na hindi pwedeng i-honor  pag  Saturday  and  Sunday.  Andudun  din  yung  nakalagay  na  it’s  charged in the office of the Secretary. So all of these were deleted. We will be giving you the new format of the guarantee letter. What is there is a bar code on top because  that  is  our  control,  and  that’s  also  given  to  the  hospitals.  So  nakalagay  lang  dun yung pangalan ng pasyente, kung saang hospital and the amount that you would like us to place in the guarantee letter.

Now, the people in-charge, kaya yan dalawa for the mean time, but in the next two weeks they will be three. Why? Because they will be on 24/7 duty so that you can call the number that we will be giving will be endorsed appropriately because they will be on eight hours duty so holidays, weekend, gabi man, madaling-araw man, merong sumasagot sa text or tawag ninyo. We will give the names to you and the contact numbers at the appropriate time. Now, the third one is the Local Government Unit hospitals. We already have issued a directive to all our regional  directors  to…  to  come  up with a MOA  that  we  have  drafted  it’s…  it’s a new memorandum of agreement for them to make representations for the governor to sign to cover all the hospitals, and in the case of LGU Hospitals we understand na sa iba walang problema pero yung iba naman may problema. And on the part of DOH naman, we are bound by COA not to release funds if we have no obligation. So their mechanism will again be like a reimbursement process where all guarantee letters released by your office to them will be reimbursed within 10 working days by the department. So yan po yung tatlong sistema. Just to make a recap, there will be three mechanisms, the first will be your funds will be directly downloaded to the specialty hospitals and all DOH-retained

hospitals and when that happens, you can communicate directly to them, but just in

case, pag punta nung pasyente ninyo, pagtawag ninyo, hindi kayo agad-agad na-

entertain, we will be giving you a directory for the personnel in-charge 24/7, just give

them the name of the patient, the amount and then a guarantee letter will be

immediately forwarded to your office. The hospital will also be copied and the

personnel in-charge, the cashier office will also be texted, yung number, the amount,

and the name of the patient. Para po agad-agad na ma-entertain. That mechanism

also follows for the LGU` Hospitals.

Now the other requirements, that yung table sa previous guidelines ninyo, that was

actually page four in the old requirements. What you have now is the new one.

Tinanggal  na  namin  lahat  yun.  We  admit  it’s  also  very  tedious  especially if the patient

has to go to the social worker and come up with all these documentary requirements.

Now on the determination of the eligibility of the patient for assistance from the

MAP, we have also deleted that because the eligibility of the patient is actually your

decision.   Then…  also   to   erase   all   doubts  we   included   it   in   the   guidelines   kasi   yung  LGU Hospitals are concerned na baka hindi sila mabayaran or whatever.

Nakalagay na doon that within 10 working days the department is obliged to pay

them. That’s  why   in   the   letter   that  we   sent   out   to   the   governors   and   the   regional  directors and the chief of hospitals, we requested for their corresponding bank and

bank accounts para direkta nang bank-to-bank na magbabayad lahat, lahat-lahat,

bank-to-bank na yung pagbayad ng central office sa lahat ng mga hospitals. Now,

there are also a lot of, the reason why there were a lot of requirements in the

previous guidelines, was that in the GAA that was approved, andudun na naka-

stipulate yung medicines given, laboratories done, yung mga itemized list. So all of

that will now be complied by a specific team that will be handling. So every patient,

tuloy-tuloy yung pagbigay ninyo ng assistance, but my office, there will be five, or

four or five personnel whose work will be to comply with all the requirements under

the GAA. Yung mga gamot na binibigay. So all of these requirements para hindi na

yun itulak sa pasyente. Kasi kaya rin nagrereklamo yung ibang pasyente dahil napi-

pingpong sila. Ang daming opisina na pinupuntahan, which is actually not good kasi

parang pinapahirapan pa sila. So that has been deleted.

And instead it will be a responsibility of my office to comply with all of these

requirements. Now on the, on the draft memorandum of agreement with the LGU`s,

while initially we wanted to just have it signed by the chief of hospital, hindi nga raw

pi-puwede kasi they are under the direct supervision of the local government chief

executive. So the others have decided not to put funds in the LGU` hospitals but for

those   who   will   be   putting   funds,   our…   our   assurance   is   that,   hindi   naman   siya  magagamit ng governor kasi first, we are bound by COA rules not to download kung wala kaming payables. So kung may guarantee letter galing sa inyo, yan po ang babayaran ng Department of Health. Now, there were also concerns that were raised to us. We realized na nagkaroon ng dalawang forms. And yung una kasi, I was confused when I was receiving calls because that the entire program was handled by another office.

Now I understood ito palang  dalawang  forms  because  it’s a PAU or a Public Assistance Unit Office, yung isang form na pinapadala sa inyo parang yung mga walk-in patient na gustong magpatulong. The PAU office writes a recommendation and sends it to your office. So medyo hindi maganda kasi parang ang feeling tuloy ng pasyente nagpunta siya sa DOH, ngayon itutulak namin sa office ninyo. Pag hindi agad na-entertain ng office ninyo, marami pang salita. So the decision of the Department is to do away with all walk-in patients because in the first place it was made clear to us that these funds are not DOH funds but are actually funds of Congressmen who are there to assist their constituents. So the referral letter if ever you receive one coming from DOH, don’t mind that but we already gave instruction. I mean I personally gave instructions last week to do away with all of those. Kasi hindi pi-puwedeng yung mgs kapag may lumalapit dun ire-refer namin sa inyo. You know best and you know better sino ang nanganagilangan ng tulong sa distrito ninyo. Isa pa, hindi rin talaga namin alam  kung  constituent  ninyo  because  they  can  always  say  they’re   from  this  district,  they’re   from   this   area   tapos   hindi   naman.   Now   there   was   also   the   issue   of   the  compilation or the collation of patients for the day before referring to the MAP. Parang binubuo muna sila lahat before ipadala.

Syempre tumatagal din talaga. Kaya everytime na pasyente (kung) if they go to your office, just refer them to us immediately and within 30 minutes at the most that will be…  yan  na yung pinaka, pinakamatagal. The guarantee letter will be e-mailed direct to your office. Whether it will be your office here or your district office, just give us the e-mail address but aside from that and guarantee letter is also with the respective hospitals so yung issue na kino-collate muna lahat before gawan ng guarantee letter mawawala na yun kasi meron nang taong in-charge for that specific hospital.   So   if   I`m   the   patient,   I’`ll     go   let’s   say   to   the   office   of   Congresswoman  Catamco, pagdating ko dun  sasabihin  ko  dun  “Cong.,  nangangailangan  ako  ng  tulong.”  her office will text the person in-charge then the guarantee letter goes to her office you  print  it  and  then  you  can  always  say  “Ito  po  tulong  ni  Congressman,  tulong  po  ng  opisina, dalhin ninyo lang   ito   sa  opisina,   sa   hospital,   sa   cashier   office.”   that  will   be  entertained  and  in  the  guarantee  letter,  there’s  no  mention  of  any…  any  person  in  the  

Department of Health, just was a mention there of a, of the indigency fund as being used to assist them. Now meron ding mga tanong yung billing amount daw, hindi nagko-coincide sa requested amount sa guarantee letter.

We already gave instructions for the hospitals, kung kunwari ang pinabigay ninyong tulong  is  four  thousand  or  let’s  say  five  thousand.  Yung  billing niya kasi nabawasan pa pala  ng  Philhealth  or  whatever  naging  let’s  say  three  thousand  five  hundred  na  lang  para hindi na tumagal, pakuha ninyo na lang ng take home meds niya. Kasi meron namang mga gamot din na inuuwi sa bahay so pakuha na lang dun. Idadagdag na lang nila  sa  bill  yun.  The  hospital  wouldn’`t  mind  as  long  as  the  amount  stipulated  in  the  guarantee letter will be the amount will be the amount that the hospital will honor.

If the bill is like five thousand and the guarantee letter is four thousand five hundred then they have to pay for the 500 kasi medyo mahirap silang i-ano... Okay, the other issue  was  that  yung  nagbabago  let`’s  say  meron  kayong  pondo  na  ni-request and we fully understand na sa dami ng nakakaharap ninyo syempre minsan, minsan kasi napansin namin meron kayong constituents nag-aaral sa ibang probinsya o ibang region, naaksidente dun nagkasakit whatever happens. Wala kayong pondo dun. So instead of waiting for the downloaded funds, the personnel in-charge dun ulit sa directory na ibibigay at i-e-mail namin sainyo within the day, yun ulit ang tatawagan. Kasi nakalagay naman doon even yung hospital na hindi sa distrito ninyo. So we will still honor that as long as yung pondo ninyo may naiwan pa na hindi siya fully downloaded dun sa isang hospital. So yun yung pi-puwede   but   if   i`t’s   like   fully  downloaded at nautilized na, makikiusap naman kami na mahirap on our part kasi the funds that are remaining are actually funds for use of the other Congressmen. Yung…   on   the   memorandum   of   agreement that will be signed by the local government chief executive, there was also this concern na ni-re-refer pa sila sa social worker. Well, admittedly it really takes time especially na yung municipal social welfare officer isa lang siya, pag nag-bi-break siya or nag-li-leave wala na.

Since  it’s  DOH  and  the  hospital  has  the  capability  to  determine  and  in  the  new…  new  guidelines, the definition of indigent patients and eligible patients is those seeking consult and admitted in the government health care facilitiy. Then our legal department   also   agreed   that   we   don’t   need   a   social   worker   para   hindi   na   sila  pupunta at di na sila mahihirapan. The mere fact that they sought consult in a government  health   facility,   that’s  enough.  Now  what  would  be  the   requirement for the guarantee letter to be honoured, di ba meron yung mga dati original prescription, original   clinical   abstract,   original   medical   certificate,   social   worker’s,   mga   blah…  blah…  blah.  Pinatanggal  na  namin  lahat  yun.  Kasi  sad  to  say,  tama  din  na  magalit kayo

because we realized that many if not all of the hospitals meron palang corresponding

charges for this, so hindi namin alam yun, our apologies for that. Every document

pala na ni-re-require yung clinical abstract, medical certificate. Meron palang bayad.

So yung pasyente syempre, mas lalong nagagalit. At yun pala yung battle net, so ini-

explain   ng   hospital   na,   “hindi,   ini-entertain namin yan, kulang lang yung

requirements.”   Ngayon   nung   tinanong   namin   yung   mga   pasyente,   eh   kasi   yung  requirements pala, may bayad din. So ang pangit tingnan. So all of that requirements

had been deleted because this is a requirement of the PAU office. Part kasi yun ng

parang ISO certification. So these were all deleted. The only requirement that the

guarantee letter will be requiring is an attach hospital billing. Okay, because from that

hospital billing, magkakaroon na kami ngayon ng papel na puwede naming i-trace

para  dun  sa  lahat  ng  mga  requirements  for  COA  and  GAA  purposes  so  that’s  all  the…  ay  just  last…  last  concern pala.

Ang daming tumatawag tungkol sa procurement of medicines. While we would like to

support that, our dilemma is that our hands are tied because in the funds that were

approved, naka-specify kasi siya na hospital assistance. May we just request na kung

pu-pwede for the next year, specified dun na puwede yung procurement of

medicines for medical missions because as of now, DBM does not allow us. Actually,

ang tiningnan din namin, hindi rin kasi solely ma-blame yung DBM kasi ang naging

problema, parang yung, may mga COA reports not related to PDAF but related to

procurement of medicines, in some hospitals and in some LGU`s. And because of

these, parang naging damay-damay ang lahat. So while they are doing things to

resolve that, hindi muna in-allow. So yun naman yung medyo dilemma namin but

then if you have medical missions these are like out patient, you can group them

together like oh you can have a diabetes clinic or you can have a hypertensive clinic

and then the laboratories and the medicines that they will be using can be charged to

the hospital. So pu-pwede po yung ganun. Yes, sir.

Question from the audience: Good afternoon po! Asec!

Usec. Garin: Hi bossing!

Question from the audience: My  question  is  regarding  health  facilities  that  doesn’t  have any   medicines   or   medical   supplies   considering   that   I’ve   heard   in   the   recent  news  that  some  private…  almost  all  private  hospitals  in  Metro  Manila  will  not  honor  cleans completion considering that Philhealth itself owes these hospitals these

private hospitals is having a hard time of facilitating for the papers in cleaning the

hospital for the Philhealth benefit of the patient. Kasi po that is one side kasi sa amin

sa  probinsya,  talaga  pong  minsan  ang  ospital  ang…  for  example  in  Biliran  there  is  only  

one hospital which is the provincial hospital. There is no private hospital, there is no national government hospital. The nearest national government hospital is two hours away. Now, most of the patients are really poor. Some of them needs immediate attention, immediate   operation…   surgical   operation   like   that   and   has   a   lot   of  prescriptions needed for the operations to be conducted immediately. Unfortunately, let’s  agree  that  all…  mostly  of  the  government  hospitals  especially  in  the  rural  areas  doesn’t  have  the  medicines.

Usec. Garin: The  medicines…   these  are   for   LGU`s  Hospitals…  not   from,  hindi   yung  DOH hospital.

Question from the audience: Yes…  Kasi  po  ang  ginagawa  namin  dun,  during  there  was  PDAF  and   I’m  a  doctor  kasi.  So  ang  ginagawa  ko mino-MOA ko sa government and then we abide by all of the COA rules. Ano bang requirement ng COA? Dahil pag pinasok mo sa LGU yan, the LGU must be responsible for the funds under all COA rules so mangyayari po dyan kailangan ng social profiling. Kailangan ko ng medical certificate or hospital abstract. Hahanapan po sila ng, ng resibo ng mga gamot kaya nangyayari po mas effective nun because nasa LGU ang pondo. Nagpa-facilitate ang district office. Kung walang gamot sa loob ng ospital sa emergency room, kami mismo ang bumibili sa botika sa labas, may resibo, nakapangalan sa pasyente para pag ni-liquidate namin sa COA, malinis. Walang dahilan na kung saan napunta yung pondo pero  kung  tatanggalin  po  natin  ngayon  yung  mga  requirements  na  I  don’t  know  if  the,  the   COA   will…   acceptable   sa   kanila   na   walang   mga   supporting   justifications.   Just  hospital bill lang kasi alam ninyo po kung hospital bill lang ang sagot ng DOH pa, eh talagang kawawa ang mahihirap dahil ang hospital walang gamit, walang gamot, walang anaesthetics, halos wala.

Usec. Garin: Okay,   for   the   COA,   sa…   sa   ganitong   sistema   let’s   go   back   to   the   ano  please... Okay for this kasi, for the guarantee letter, it will be acceptable to COA because   the  patient’s   bill  will   allow  us   to   look   into  what  we   call   the WEB PAIS. So what DOH has setup is an internet linkage among all our hospitals, that we encode the   patients’   name,we   get   their   records.   So   ibig   sabihin,   actually   hindi   na   yun   iko-comply kasi meron na lang kaming mga tao na taga-comply nun. So we transfer the burden   of   the   patients   to   our   staff.   Now,   yung   sa   LGU`s   we   will…   we   will   make  immediately presentations with the DBM kasi yung downloading of funds, hindi namin alam kung papayagan in the previous meetings kasi, hindi pi-pwede kung wala kang billing basis.

Now,  what  we  can  actually  do  is  that,  I  don’t  know  if  it  will  be  of  much  help.  What  we  can do is possibly include it in the MOA that the governor who will sign kasi yung

governor naman yung may pondo, the governor who will sign will also manifest that while  they  are  signing  kasi  it’s  actually  income  for  them  eh  kasi  kaysa  ang  nangyayari  ngayon yung pasyenteng walang pambayad, hindi mo naman mapilit, with the Congressional fund now, yung pasyenteng walang pambayad, aside from Philhealth kahit papaano nadadagdagan   ang   pondo  ninyo.   So   ang  mangyayari   dun,   it’s   also   a  welcome  income  for  them.  Then  maybe  in  the  MOA,  we  will  stipulate  that  it’s  their  mandate to provide the basic meds and the commonly used medicines in their hospital.   So   that’s   one   that   they   can do, but after this meeting allow me to have some time to make representations with DBM and COA on, on how we are going to facilitate the, yeah, pwedeng dun na lang sa first slide. Next slide please. No, no, no, slide, previous slide, okay so this is the new term that will be included. Yung eligible beneficiary, so we do away with the social worker, with the assessment whatsoever, they are seeking consultation, sinama namin yung rehab per request of other congressmen, examination or other... regardless of room  category,  okay…  kasi  meron  namang mga pasyente na hindi raw tinatanggap kasi nasa semi-private room or private room. Unfortunately, there are illnesses that mandates (sic) their isolation or minsan puno yung hospital. Hindi naman nila kasalanan na sa private room sila. So isasama na lang siya. Ito lang yung problema namin yung professional fees.

Maybe   you   can   help   us  with,   ito   talaga   it’s,   it’s   really   COA…  We,  we  made   several  representations, binabalik naman ng COA sa amin which is somehow true kasi, as, as indigent patients hindi, lalo na kapag Philhealth, meron na kasing professional fee. Supposed to be yung doctor hindi na sumisingil. Kaya siya hindi nadya-justify kasi like in  the  case…  actually  in  a  meeting  with  Philhealth,  I  put  forward  a  proposal sabi ko sa Philhealth,  “baka  naman  pi-puwede  kasi  what  happens  is  if  I’m  the  doctor,  pasyente  kunwari pasyente si cong., Cong. Henry Pryde Teves. May Philhealth siya or HMO, what Philhealth and MHO does, is that they pay the hospital for the medical bills, the PF   goes   direct   to   my   bank   account.”   Ganun   po   yun.   So   sa   government   hospitals,  ganun din. The Philhealth goes direct to the bank account of the doctor.

So minsan, hindi alam ng pasyente na meron na siyang binayad. So what we are recommending is they give the money or the PF direct to the patient, the patient then pays that to the doctor. Then magtatawaran na sila para may semblance ng bayad. We have a pending proposal about dun sa Philhealth, and medyo nag-okay naman sila initially, kasi ang nangyayari ngayon, people do not know na yung doktor nababayaran na pala ng Philhealth. Kaya pag sumisingil sila, akala naman ng pasyente talagang walang naibayad. Nagdodoble actually. Kasi like hinahanap mo, so philhealth like  will  pay  you  eight  thousand…  so  that’s  something  we  would  like  to  solve.  Will  this  still get refunds from payment? Actually, yung sa ngayon. Ahh, kasi yung walang

Philhealth.  Ngayon  pala,  yung…  just  to  inform  you,  there’s  a  point  of  care.  Okay.  What  is the point of care program? The point of care says. May pasyente ka. Nasa government hospital. Makikita naman ng hospital na walang pamabayad yun, walang Philhealth. The point of care allows, actually it mandates the hospital to automatically enrol the patient.

Nagkaroon lang ng kaunting glitch kasi nung nagbabayad na yung hospital sa Philhealth na-disallow ng COA. Okay. Yung COA naman nung dinis-allow nila, kasi nasa batas nga talaga na yung income ng hospital, hindi puwedeng pambayad ng Philhealth premimum. So for an exemption we already had three meetings with DBM, during the latest meeting we submitted a format again to Sec. Butch. And then we are awaiting, I mean verbally and in principle secretary Abad already agreed kasi sabi   ko   “Boss   ang   kailangan   lang   naman   talaga   dito   papel   na   pirmado   ng DBM instructing  COA  that  they  are  now  allowing  hospitals…  they  are  amending  that  rule  that  hospitals  can  pay  for  the  premium.”  So  medyo  maso-solve na yun, so kung yung pasyente walang pambayad, pagpasok niya at hindi siya enrolled dun sa matrix, pwede siyang i-enrol ng hospital, yes. So yan yung point of care. So yung admission niya na yan, mababayran na siya ng Philhealth.

Question from the Audience: Magandang hapon po. Tanong ko lang U-sec, are all hospitals, nationwide ay may point of care?

Usec. Garin: Supposedly, all DOH hospitals, yes. Yung LGU naman, kapag sinama rin sila  yun  lang  yung  naging  ano…  yung payment ng income kasama na rin sila. So lahat po yun.

Question from the Audience: second po ay, yung, kasi, yung halimbawa po, makaka-avail na ang mga   indigent  patients  ng  point  of   care,   is   it   available   24/7?  Ang…  ang  pag-issue po ng point of care para sa mga pasyente po?

Usec. Garin: Yes, because the hospital enrols them. So the hospital gets their data, may form na sila. Tapos hindi nga makakabayad yan…  babayaran  ng  Philhealth.

Question from the Audience: So it becomes automatically enrolled? Once they, they are confined. Once they are confined in the hospital. How about Usec, yun pong ano, yung mga emergency cases po, na, yung, yung kailangan po ng pasyenteng mahirap ng  kailangan  they  have  to  avail  yung  private  doctors,  is  the  point  of  care…  takes  care    (sic) of that? Halimbawa po naaksidente po at nagkaroon po ng problema sa brain, so the hospital especially the LGUs hospitals ay wala pong available sa kanila na neurologist, kailangan pong kumuha ng private doctor? So how can we address the problem of the patient?

Usec. Garin: Yes,  yes,  yes…  Actually  as  long  as  the  patient  is  indigent  and  even  if  it  is  a  pay patient, tapos walang specialist na available, Philhealth covers them as long as the doctor is Philhealth accredited.

Question from the Audience: So they are fully-covered po?

Usec. Garin: Yes, yes. Kaya lang yung Philhealth kasi meron silang like, for this case, ito yung PF. For this case, ito yung PF. Sometimes kasi, the other doctors would charge parang... plus, plus, plus.

Question from the Audience: Yun nga po eh, kasi halimbawa manininingil po ng, yung neurologist, maninigil po siya kung minsan po ng 120, 000.00. Yan po ang ano. Syempre hindi naman po mamimili yung pangyayari, ay hindi makakapamili kung sino yung tao kung mahirap ba siya o mayaman, ang masama, ang mahirap po sa isang mahirap na tao ay maaksidente hindi lamang po sa, sa motorsiklo, whatever accident may happen to an individual, ay masasagot po ba yun? Kung minsan 120, 000, kung minsan 200, 000. Halimbawa po kung minsan kasi mayroon din pong inaatake nasa isang okasyon biglang inatake at dinala po sa heart center, or sa ibang specialty hospital, masasagot po ba yun ng point of care?

Usec. Garin: For the Philhealth enrolment, yes. And the fee corresponding to that Philhealth allows. Unfortunately and admittedly, nakakahiya mang sabihin, meron talagang ibang doctors na they take advantage, so nagcha-charge sila ng malaki. May taripa naman supposedly yun pero yung iba nga hindi sumusunod. Because, unlike the lawyers, they have IBP. For the doctors, wala kasing integrated PMA. It was actually  the  law  that  I  believe  congresswoman  Binay,  myself,  and,  bothers  with…  they  are pushing before kasi there is no body, dapat din kasi, tama naman na sumingil kasi hanapbuhay nila yun, pero yung tolerable, ang nangyayari kasi parang kanya-kanya na, wala nang sinusunod. That is why na we have a pending proposal with Philhealth maybe you can help us with that, na yung payment ng professional fee na reimbursement goes direct to the patient para yung pasyente dala-dala na yung pera ibabayad niya dun sila magne-negotiate. Kasi nangyayari sa ngayon talaga, it goes direct to the doctor.

Question from the Audience: Saka po Usec, kung hindi po masasagot lahat ng Philhealth, that is why concern po kami na maunawaan po ng COA at ng DBM na sana po yung aming ahh, ahh allotted funds for the medical assistance ay mabigyan po ng pagkakataon na makapag-rekomenda po kami ng professional fee din po pandagdag dun sa hindi po ma-accommodate ng Philhealth.

Usec. Garin: Yeah, ahm we will also wait the presentations pero siguro sa, ito kasi yung ngayon nakasama ito doon kasi previously mayroon yatang na-disallow yung COA yun  sa,  sa  PDAF  pa  before  so  that’s  why  pero  yung  isa  naman  dun  ahm,  maybe  we should also inform the patients that there is this law lalo na kung government hospital eh hindi pwedeng ma-hold yung patient. So kung nabayaran na yan supposed to be yung hospital pwede na silang i-release.

Question from the Audience: Usec. Halimbawa po ah isang mahirap na pasyente na lumapit sa amin na, na by emergency cases eh nalagay po sa private hospital how can we be of help to them?

Usec. Garin: Through the medical assistance program that ahm, you, you recommend as long as they are in the government facility ahm, ah private hospital.

Question from the Audience: Private   po…   private   po   nadala   po   kasi   yun   po   ang  pinakamalapit.

Usec. Garin: The, the solution talaga dun is you transfer.

Question from the Audience: In the, in the real sense po eh, Usec. nangyayari po kasi yan.

Usec. Garin: Yeah, yeah, we understand marami pong nangyayaring ganyan. Pero marami din pong immediately eh nililipat. Acutally there is a proposal to expand yung medical assistance program to include the private hospitals. Kaya lang yung eto nga yung ngayon madalian kasi siya during the budget hearing, Atleast like ahmn, we now have 3 sets for request for the next budget.

Question from the Audience: Yun po kasing ah, alam ko yung funds na allotted for every district ay it has to be identified by a, a district congressman or or party-list ahm, ahh.

Usec. Garin: Actually po, not necessarily that is why we wanted to correct that kasi marami na yung nagrereklamo noh, correct us if I am wrong, andaming nagreklamo na bakit daw pinapa-identify ng hospital tapos pag gusto nang ilipat, ang hirap. Ang totoo po, hindi naman po necessary na mag-identify kayo agad, unless you want your money downloaded there immediately. Our initial recommendation was actually, we’ll  send  the  guarantee  letters  then  bayaran  agad  para  walang,  walang  tagal,  walang  maraming requirements kasi the hospital structure has a lot of requirements for indigency program natutunga kasi diyan sila eh. So to solve that, yun yung prinopose namin.   But   then   there   were   others   naman   we’re   very   comfortable   with   outright  

downloading so sabi namin okay naman yun. For those na wala kayong downloaded na  pondo,  actually  it’s easier, better and more flexible kasi by the time na nagpalit ka ng isip, kunyare party-list congressman ka, dito ka naglagay ng pondo, then mayroon din dun kasamahan ninyo, kaibigan ninyo tumatakbo din, you want to concentrate on this area, so very flexible, all you have to do is look at our directory tell the person in charge you want a guarantee letter immediately to this hospital, this patient, ipadala agad. So hindi na yung na-download na dun, babawiin mo ulit, ire-realign mo.

Mas matagal yun. So for those who were not able to submit a list of breakdown. Wala pong problema. You just call/text Atty. (?) here Moly is the one heading the group. So that’s  Moly.  Kasama  rin  dun  yung  AO  ko  si  Ethel,  and  then  yung  si  Annalyn.  Ito  si  Moly  he will be heading the   staff,   ito   si  Moly   pakita  mo   yung…   Si  Moly  will   be   the   one  supervising  the  personnel  na  24/7  on  8  hours  rotation  to  cater  to  your  calls…  So  yung  dun sa directory ulitin ko lang dalawa lang muna yung pangalan dun may dadagdag na pangatlo, telephone numbers and name of hospitals. So kung yung pasyenete nandito sa hospital A, ito yung pangalan ng pasyente Hospital A, amount, text ninyo lang yung inyong designated na office or ano padala kaagad namin yung guarantee letter by e-mail kung walang e-mail we will fax it but at the same time we give a copy to  the  cashier’s  office  and  the  director’s  office  in  the  hospital.  Para  pagkapunta  yung  pasyente kung yung lumapit nandidito or district office, punta sila, ibibigay.

Question from the Audience: For clarification lang po, sana po eh lend me your ears, silence please. Hindi po tayo magkakaintindihan if everyone, all of us are talking. My clarificatory question lamang po ako Usec. Yun po bang ating available personnel in your office po eh can accommodate all congressmen’s  ah  concerns,   regarding,  with  regards (sic) to the sending of a guarantee letters kasi po katulad ko lamang po sa aming distrito po ay napakarami po na nabibigyan ng, na binibigyan namin dati ng guarantee letter eh kung minsan po animnapu kung minsan po eh isang daang pasyente eh kung kami pong lahat eh almost 300 congressmen po kami can they all accommodate all of us po for that particular day. Pangalawa po. Ay.. yun po munag sgaot.

Usec. Garin: Actually yes, ahm pasensya lang po nagkaron po kasi ng konting misunderstanding when this program came in and initially we thought it will be assigned to my office, we trained people, kaya lang nung nagkaroon ng konting, nagkaroon ng meeting si Sec. and with some leaders of the House, nagkaroon ng konting miscommunication so hindi po, parang na-cut, na-cut because they thought that, that hindi na kailangan yung gagawa ng guarantee letter, gagawa ng guidelines, I mean gagawa nung yung mga medicines given, laboratories requested, because it will

be requested by the patient sa hospital. Yung lumabas na ngayon na may bayad pala yung lahat ng data na yun, ahm actually ni-retrieve namin yung lahat na trinain, we started calling them, we had a meeting last week, dinagdagan ng tao, so makakayanan po nila. And ahm, if there will be a battle neck at some point of time, nagdadagdag po kami nang nagdadagdag ng tao. But for now, people who were facilitating  before  that’s  a  total  of  6  or  7  people  ahm,  now  they  are  14  and  21. So yun po situation po. For sure they can accommodate everybody.

Question from the Audience: Secondly po, yung ah patients po na na-confine po or iko-confine pa lang sa LGUs hospitals in my province po ay papano po sila mabibigyan ng gamot ng hospital kung wala pa po kasi sabi po ninyo yun munang hospital bill ang ibibigay, isesend po sa inyo. Tama po ba ako. Yun lang pong hospital bill ang isesend po sa inyo at kayo po ang magda-download ng pera sa provincial government kasi ito pong LGUs noh ay under po ng provincial executives ay papano po tatanggapin ng isang LGU hospital katulad po ng samin provincial hospital sasabihin na lang po na. Papano po ba ang communication namin? Ahm, kami po ay magbibigay ng endorsement sa director ng LGU hospital? Or halimbawa po provincial hospitals or district hospitals within my district magbibigay po ba ako ng endorsement sa director para po lahat ng kanyang kailangang gawing examinations, laboratories, ultrasound, CT scan, those are facilities available in hospitals tska po yung medicines yun po ba ay i-endorse ko po sa district, ay sa director ng hospitals for that matter.

Usec. Garin: Yeah, we actually sent already a memo to all regional directors and we will be making representations isa-isa po sa lahat ng hospital na any gurantee letter na dala-dala ng pasyente galing sa opisina ng congressman, tanggapin nila because we will also be sending a direct similar copied sila para at least alam nila na mayroon. Now yung ipadadala namin sa congressional office ninyo na ibibigay ninyo ngayon sa pasyente na ito po tulong ni congressman, ganyan, dadalhin ng pasyente yun di ba, ibibigay niya sa hospital, pagdala niya sa hospital, lahat po iyon let us say at the end of two weeks iko-compile ng hospital and then they just send it to the regional office. The regional office will now validate it with us and then we say yes, kasi magpapadala na kami ng amount and do that fund transfer within ten working days. That is the maximum, ten working days.

Question from the Audience: Maraming salamat po. Klarong-klaro na po. Maraming salamat po.

Usec. Garin: So hindi po tatagal yung utang.

Question from the Audience: Magandang hapon po ulit Usec, Janet. Alam ninyo po sa DSWD version. Yung oresent version ngayon, I was able to talk to the Secretary Dinky and ah, ganun din ang assistance fund eh kasi from the same fund that what the DOH will provide. Ang napagkasunduan po namin ah regarding dun sa situations like us na malayo kami sa regional office, malayo po kami sa mga regional hospitals, or national agencies, eh ida-download po nila, meron na po silang ginawang MOA from the central office ang pipirma yung regional director ng DSWD at ah ida-download po yung pondo let us say 12 million. Sabi ni Secretary Cong, kahit kalahati lang muna, kasi masyadong malaki ang pondo so yung kalahati po i-da-download daw sa local government na gusto mo na mag-i-implement ng programa ng DSWD at ah, yung provincial government na yun which will be signed by the governor and the regional director of the department yun pong pondo na yun eh responsible na po ang LGU. So yung LGU sila na ang all the auditing policies of the government they should abide by it. And after ma-consume yung 6 million, responsibility ng local government na i-liquidate sa DSWD bago ma-release ang second batch ng pondo. So mas mas magiging effective ito kaysa yung kada release for example walang ibang dapat itong daanan kundi sa local government ah facility dahil malayo nga yung national eh kung dalawa-dalawa liquidation tatakbo ka pa ng region malayo pa maghihintay ka pa ng ten days, doubt it if the national government can immediately facilitate the assessment, the liquidation of all districts in the country, dahil po isa lang ang opisina niyan eh.

And aside sa kanilang normal standard operations, ito pa yung dagdag na trabaho galing sa mga pondo ng ito nga former, I doubt it kung mapapabilis po natin, we are talking here of lives of the people, health ito eh. Hindi naman ito rehabilitation, hindi po ito, ito po ay immediate ang kailangan. Tatakbo sa emergency room. Kailangan kaagad ng gamot alam ninyo po yun, doktor po tayo. Hindi pi-pwedeng paghintayin ng sampung araw ito. Kung hindi puputok yan. Kaya po sa akin po bigyan po natin ng leeway naman, lalo na yung mga lugar na katulad sa amin na ang layo namin sa regional ah, department na kung pwde po meron namang existing COA rules. Napakahigpit ng COA ngayon alam natin lahat. Talagang napakahirap ngayon. Kawawa ang mga LGU ngayon, dahil talagang sobrang higpit ng COA ngayon talagang pag-iisipan mo, na tatanungin mo muna sila tama ba itong paggastos ko bago mo gawin para siguradong safe ka. Sa akin po sana naman sa mga ganitong sitwasyon sana  magawan  naman  ng  paraan  para  kaagad  na  maibigay  ang…  

Usec. Garin: We will, we will relay and then come, come back to you, magpaalam po kami on how to go about it. Initially kasi nung napag-usapan kasi ang downloading to LGUs when were at the DBM office, ang nasabi kasi nun is hindi kasi diretso sa hospitals, but the premise kasi doon, nagkakaroon ng problema, kaya nga magkaiba yung premise, now that is a very valid reason, before kasi yung nagiging problema na kapag downloaded ang pondo, tapos kasi nag-away si Gov at si Cong or si Mayor ginamit yung ganun hindi nan are-retrieve, that is the problem that we have now in the  health  facilities  enhancement.  Kasi…  

Question from the Audience: Samin po for sigurado, excuse me, wala pong problema sa amin.

Usec. Garin: Yeah…  yeah

Question from the Audience: kapatid ko yung governor.

Usec. Garin: We will make the necessary representations. But for the mean time.

Question from the Audience: Thank you po.

Usec. Garin: Nasaan yung powerpoint? Next slide, next slide, balik, balik, balik. Okay, i-ano ko lang, i-clarify ko lang Cong, i-clarify ko lang Cong, ito ay DOH-retained facilities without downloaded funds. Hindi ibig sabihin nun kailangan may guarantee letter talaga lahat. Minsan kasi, agad-agad yung nagpupunta sa inyong pasyente Heart Center pala siya o nag-aaral siya dun sa UP Visayas so nasa Western Visayas Medical Center siya. Yung pag-download takes time. Kasi may mga documentary, kaya sina-suggest namin na kung wala kayong downloaded pondo dun. Minsan naman mayroong a little miscommunication, na nag-request na pala kayo ng downloading of funds for that hospital kagaya nga namin, we extend our apologies, last week ko lang nalaman yung case ni Congresswoman Lucy Torres na nagreklamo ng si Cong. Lucy, may representative ba sa office ni Cong. Lucy dito? Please extend our apologies. Kasi nung una, actually last week ko lang nalaman yung ganitong problema nung nag-i-ednorse na nga na sinabi niya sa hospital ng pasyente na sinabihan, wala po kayong pondo dito. So medyo hindi nga maganda ang dating.

It should not have been said. Now kung wala kayong pondo, hindi pa dumating, yun pala yung request nila, yung request niya came in late parang nandudun sa second batch. Yung natanggap ng hospital first batch pa lang. So kung ganung problema, dito kayo para mas mabilis. Habang hinihintay natin yung downloading padala na kaagad kayo ng ano request for medical assistance. Agad-agad ibibigay namin yung guarantee letter. Kasi pag may guarantee letter na dala ang pasyente ninyo, parang PCSO yan, di

ba pag dala nila wala nang tanong yung ospital kasi yung guarantee letter good as cash yan. Kumbaga parang SM gift cheque. Okay. The guarantee letter we give it to your office. We send it to your office. Next slide. Next slide. Yung guarantee letter. Okay for those who were asking this is the guarantee letter that we will make. Now kung kunyare buo pa, we will just put it hospital bill. Ilalagay lang namin yung breakdown nung kanya kung may breakdwon. Kung walang breakdown, we just place the hospital bill and the amount. You see PHC 140 yung may number at may mark. Okay that is Philippine Heart Center may corresponding number. That is actually a code. That code will allow us to retrieve the data of the patient. Kaya yung mga nakalagay sa GAA na mga, ito yung mga requirements, yung COA, yung medicines given. That will not be your work. That will be our work. Because that control number will   allow   us   to   retrieve   all   patients’   information   from   our   computer   and   the  computers of the hospital. So yun po yung ibig namin sabihin. So dito tinanggal na rin namin yung pumipirma na si Asec. Gibby Lagahid, Asec. Gibby is kaya nandyadyan siya  before  kasi  siya  yung  heading  PAO  office  and  he’s  the  EA  of  Secretary  Ona.  We  also admit na hindi nga maganda tingnan na mayroong ibibigay kayo tapos yung makikita ng pasyente na Asec. Lagahid so nawawalan ngayon ng points na totoo naman na kayo ang nag-facilitate  ng  pondo.  So  that’s  why  the  new  guarantee  letter  will just be like this. No signatory. No mention of the secretary of the, no mention of any EA or any personality, yan lang. E-mail namin, just give it. What is important is you give the form that we have, because the hospitals know that when they look at the control number, pasok na kaagad yun. Because that number will be, will corresponding to the amount that we placed there. And that number when it comes to us, compute nang compute na kami. At the end of two weeks alam na namin kung magkano yung ipapadala sa kanila through bank to bank. Yes po? Ay sir, sorry sir.

Question from the audience: Good afternoon Usec.

Usec. Garin: Yeah, good afternoon sir.

Question from the audience: Good afternoon distinguished colleagues. My name is Ted Garcia, I am the Congressman of the 2nd district of Bataan, and a former three-term governor. I have no queston but it might help in our discussion if I explain how we were doing it in Bataan. In Bataan, I know the history of devolution because I was the governor there in 1992. And when I saw that the (inaudible) sabi ko this is bound to fail because yung kaakibat na pondo, wala. And so when I had the opportunity to (inaudible), sad to say akala ko okay na, kulang pa rin. And so what we did is about ten years ago, we entered into a MOA with DOH, where lahat ng MOOE ng DOH will be matched by the province on a one-to-one basis. Binibigyan din ho namin ng MOOE

pati ho yung lahat ng construction so I think it is succeeding becuase now it is perfectly functioning. And talagang napakaimportante po ng public hospital kasi mas mura sa public hospital and kagaya ho ngayon because of that MOA, lahat ho ng pasyente sa Bataan General Hospital which is a tertiary hospital with a compliment of 300 bed eh nakakpaglibre na kami ng lahat ng gusto naming ilibre.

Usec. Garin: Although suggestions are noted sir and in fact we have heard about the arrangement of your hospital. Unfortunately medyo mahirap siya i-implement nationwide nga because of the law of devolution. But ahm, if there is a move to renationalize your services, we will not have any objections..

Question from the audience: But as I was saying, mula nang ma-renationalize ho akala ko wala nang problema because national government na ang in-charge eh andaming pera ng national government, instead of local governments. Yun pala meron pa ring problema and that problem as well when we, pinagtulungan po nam in ng DOH atsaka ng province of Bataan on a one-to-one basis. Yung lahat ng MOOE nila eh minatch namin ng MOOE on a one-to-one basis. Lahat ho ng infrastructure ng construction one-to-one din and so we were able to construct three new, brand new bulding, three, three-storey building connected to each other by a pedestrian bridge. Then ang hospital po namin ISO registered na po. ISO recognized.

Usec. Garin: We will take note of those reccomendations po.

Question from the audience: Thank you very much po.

Question from the audience: Good afternoon, Usec, to my colleagues and to everyone present here.

Usec. Garin: Hi Cong.

Question from the audience: This is not a question. It is an appeal because I share the same sentiments with Congressman Espina here, and with the other representatives. We also have a hospital run by LGU. So ahm, hindi masyadong kumpleto ang aming supplies and medicines. Tapos minsan ang aming equipments dahil sa dami talaga ng pasyente. Ang record namin 130 patients ang nako-confine. Wala pa yung out patient kasi sa Pasay City, sabi nga ni Secretary Ona when he visited our   hospital   it’s   a   melting   plot.   So   ah,   if   I   may   suggest   Usec. Sana’y   if,   ahm,   if  pwedeng gawin yung ginagawa yata ng DOH, please corret me if I am wrong, ginagawa ng DOH sa inyong mga national government, national hospitals, na idina-download na yung pondo, and then pwde ring ilagay na trust fund para hindi magamit kung saang purpose ng local government units at ito po ay for

replenishment kasi nga po talagang ah, emergency needs ang mga kailangan ng aming patients. So ganun nga ba ang ano, ang ginagawa na ng DOH sa inyong mga hospitals?

Usec. Garin: Actually mam, Actually Cong, for DOH hospitals, the funds are downloaded but they can not use it for procurement of medicines and equipments. It is downloaded there it becomes a trust fund lalo na sa specialty hospitals because of their status as a GOCC. Andudun yung pera, so every patient na pumupunta dun for medical assistance parang china-charge tapos magli-liquidate sila at the end of the month, na ito yung na-cosume ng one month. They come up with a ultilization report submits it to COA and to us and I believe Congress and Senate will also be copied dun sa utilization report nakalagay doon, downloaded funds ahm, patients given services and then amount utilized, so ganun din po. Our dilemma here kasi, in the general appropriations act, the funds were specified, andyadyan po sa budget na inapprove ng kongreso at senado that it is purely for medical assistance. For patients seeking consult in a government health facility.

Yung procurement of equipments at procurement of medicines, hindi siya nasama dun. So when we had several discussions with DBM, and we asked those questions, we were told na baka i-consider. But because there was also the health facilities enhancement fund that is being given to LGUs, kasama na dun yung facilities anf infra, hindi na naisama, ginawa siya na purely for medical assistance. Now ahm, what DBM told us kasi ito na nga tapos na nadyadyan na yung libro. What they told us is that  what  can  be  done  di  ba  may  pasyente  meron  naman  dun  yung  binabayad.   It’s  income that they get. That income. They can now use to procure medicines or equipments whatever they like. So yun yung sinabing proposal. Now, if we download the funds even to LGU hospitals, granting that COA will allow us, I am sure it is still, it will still, still it cannot be used for procurement of equipments and supplies. Pi-pwede lang siya na parang ganun din, everytime may patient, bayad, bawas, bawas.

Question from the audience: Yes   Usec,   that’s   what   I   meant   yun   pong   ahm   pag  anndyan na yung patient we will not buy the equiments, supply, para lang yung director ng hospital meron siyang free hand na makagawa ng paraan kung papaano niya maa-answer yung needs nung aming pasyente. Kasi sa aming LGU, although may mga gamot talaga dahil sa dami ng patients, nauubusan din agad. So pag GL ang ibibigay po natin, hindi rin pwedeng ibili right away ng medicines na kakailanganin ng pasyente yung GL. So baka po pipwedeng mapansin.

Usec. Garin: We will make the necessary representations and ask for the guidelines for LGU downloading citing nga yung sa DSWD. But then allow us to reiterate na

basta pag downloaded sa LGU, hindi na mababawi yun so yung pagda-download siguradong walang problema. Alam natin kasi medyo liquid pa ngayon. Minsan kapag ka end of the year, marami kasi kaming ano eh.

XXXXXXXXXX END OF TRANSCRIPT XXXXXXXXXX

PARTIAL AND PROVISIONAL TRANSCRIPT

AUDIO RECORDING OF HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS HEARING

Batasang Pambansa South Wing Annex Building

4 August 2014,

DR. LICUANAN: Mr. Chair, I just should respond, at this point, to some of the issues, because I am equally confused and very frustrated, because we really thought we were trying our best to, to do what was right. Let us…let us look back historically. We had a system. The PDAF system was there.  …   It harmonized with CHED, we, we, cooperated with the – is this on? We cooperated with the Congressmen who were given their PDAF allotment, and we helped them distribute the… the scholarship grants and, in a way that was pretty much satisfactory. It may not have been a perfect system but it was there. It was  a  system  we’ve  worked  with  for  many  years.  And  then…

CONGRESSMAN RUFUS RODRIGUEZ: May I object to that because that is not true. That is not the situation during the PDAF. The PDAF did not pass the CHED. The PDAF went directly   to   the   state   universities   so   you   have   no,   you   have   no   totally…   totally no intervention. Well in my case, it has... I think most of all or all of us because when we give  our…  when  we  give  our  menu ... to the committee of Cecile here, it was very clear, the SARO, you cannot ask  the  money…  we  gave  it  to  the  state  universities. There was no problem…  even  when  the  CHED,  because  there  was  no  more PDAF then you can go to the CHED. But I would tell you. That we submitted to the Speaker last year. So this is not a post intervention. Before…before the, the budget was approved, we already, the Speaker already gave you already our allocation. Is this not correct? Because we gave our lists, we gave all lists last  year…  on  how…  on  how  to  allocate  the  14 million. You see. So you know…   let  me   continue that I just tell you there is mostly no intervention by CHED…  when PDAF was alive because our SARO, the SARO given goes directly to the schools,  to  the  public  state  universities  and  colleges,  exactly  the  situation.  So  now…  the  only landmark declaration is now, and we do not have to question that precisely because there is no more PDAF, it is to the CHED. And then we submitted allocations so therefore  there  is  no  such  thing  as  post  because  this  is  submitted  by  the  Speaker’s  office  

and the Committee, the Appropriations, given to you before December. And so very clear na sabi ko that is why in the other, in the other departments, madam chairperson. In the other departments, na-download na. Ang DSWD na-download na sa regional office saka central office, ang aming, ang aming DOH nasa hospital na. Nandyan na lahat, wala tayong problema dyan. Now, bakit sa inyo hindi pa na-download dito sa aming schools…  which  were submitted to you by Sherry long time ago?

CONGRESSMAN ABU: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Chairman, parliamentary inquiry.

CHAIRMAN UNGAB: Yes, what is the inquiry all about?

CONGRESSMAN ABU: Ano po ba yung mga rulings natin pagdating sa ganitong klase ng executive session? Dahil pinalabas natin ang media kanina dahil executive session ito. Dahil baka mamaya may makalampas tayo dito na sasabihin natin na hindi naman kaiga-igaya sa pandinig ng iba nating mga kasama, ay ano ba ang ating ruling dito? Baka mamaya paglabas diyan, mayroong magpa-interview diyan, na yun, pini-pressure na naman ng mga congressman ang CHED. Ginigisa na naman ang CHED dahil hindi masunod sila. I think Mr. Chairman we should clarify to ask the ruling.

CHAIRMAN UNGAB: This is an oversight committee hearing. So, it is inherent in the legislative powers of Congress that we can act as an oversight body especially for funds that are also…that   are basically public funds, and again I made it clear early that the legislative intent is very clear…is  that  scholarships  must  go  on…

CONGRESSMAN ABU: Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, the confidentiality of executive session?

CHAIRMAN UNGAB: Well of course, executive session. The rule is confidential talaga pag sinabi nating confidential.

CONGRESSMAN ABU: What if a member, what if a member of the Committee on Appropriations or the Oversight Committee or any of, any of his staff after na, after ng hearing eh lumabas at magpa-interview at dini-vulge kung ano ang nangyayari dito, what would be the sanctions?

CHAIRMAN UNGAB: Well, pakiusapan na lang natin, since this is an executive session, dito na lang.

[Laughter.]

CONGRESSMAN ABU: Takot ho ako dito.

CHAIRMAN UNGAB: Congressman Teves, please.

CONGRESSMAN TEVES: …When  I  submitted…actually  there’s  no  problem  in  Region 7 as of now. Our Regional Director has been very cooperative …Region  7…  so  far  cooperative  naman.  …  May confusion kaming konti because.. of course…  when  we  try  to  limit  our  14 million, our submissions to the 14 million, I know for a fact that other members of Region 7 cannot even occupy half of that, like Siquijor for example or Congressman Caminero’s  district   for   example…   so   I  …   submitted  more  and I do not know what the rule should be on how we will be using our, our money as a whole in the Region, Mr. Chairman. However, if the case should be, we will be restricted to the 14 million then I would respectfully request that on our next budget for 2015, this should be rectified so that I can accommodate the others. Secondly, of the old scholars that were hit by the PDAF, in which I remember correctly Congresswoman Almario was talking about the HEDF that we’ll be using to pay for the old scholars, the previous scholars when the PDAF was not yet declared illegal… I would like to make sure that it that will be followed. Otherwise, again, Mr. Chairman, I would request that for the 2015 budget, it should be rectified; our 2015 budget should make sure that this would be covered because I am sure that some of them will be graduating already. They will not be able to get  their  diplomas  if  they’re  not  gonna  get  paid,  Mr.  Chairman.  That’s  all.  Thank  you.  

CHAIRMAN UNGAB: Yes,   we’ll   take   that into consideration, your honor. So after Congressman Teves is , Chairman Licuanan.

DR. LICUANAN: Yes, sir. Yes, I was, I was, in the middle of a thought and then Congressman Rufus made a correction. Actually I agree with you for the most part, that most of the PDAF was really direct. But we did handle some of it. Some. But we had a system  also  of  scholarships  in  CHED,  a  number  of…  different  types  of  scholarships.

Okay, so what were some of historical events that took place unexpected by, I think, Your Honors as well as us. We were taken quite a bit by surprise. The first was the TRO on the PDAF and essentially, you know, CHED is the bad guy here. But you have to give us the credit. When that happened, we immediately wrote all the SUCs and said, please take in the PDAF scholars, if they were there from the first sem, keep them on. I’ll  make  it good to you, it’s  my,  it  will  be on,  I’ll  find  the  money,  I’ll  pay  you  back.  My  expectation  

was that the Supreme Court would reconsider for health as well as scholarships. But we know that did not happen. So, even worse than a TRO, it was declared illegal. We consulted Your Honors because that is very frightening. Here we are, the PDAF is illegal, and in a way you were working out a system where it would be realigned and given to us. Now, what are we supposed to do? We understood it to mean - and I know I don’t have the refinements of whether it’s oversight or whatever - but the fact is my understanding is that - you used the term earlier. Illegal post- …intervention. So in other words, you make the law, you   don’t   implement it. That was also pointed out, not in those terms, but we had a previous encounter with the Commission on Audit. They had a very serious audit observation memo to us, report to us, that essentially the way we were handling some of the PDAF that came to us as well as the Congressional scholarships that we give out was different from our usual scholarships which followed the same set of CHED guidelines. So that was even before PDAF became an issue. We said, alright. In which case, we will make sure that the same guidelines prevail for all the scholarships that we handle, including the Congressional ones. So, having already committed ourselves to that, when this happened, when the PDAF was illegal, then you presented, and you realigned it to various agencies. We had to do the right thing. We did not want to do anything illegal, we did not want to get into trouble with COA, we did not want to go against very, very vociferous public opinion against PDAF. So our solution was at that time, very clear. In my mind I said, the Congressman will nominate. They can recommend. Of course, that is their right. They do that all the time. These are their constituents. They know, they know the situation on the ground. I already had my script for the media when they say would,  “O, may PDAF pa rin ano?” And then you are, you are…what is the term for…you  are  a collaborator,  you’re  doing  the  same  thing.  At  any  rate, I had to protect the agency, I had to protect the Aquino government. I had to make sure we played by the rules. And that was all settled. You would recommend. You would tell us exactly who your candidates were and we would apply our guidelines and so COA will be…will have no complaints, and neither would Congressman Tinio or anyone else who wants to… to squeal on you guys. [Laughter.]

So that’s  what  we  thought  we were doing. But the system I guess takes time. Essentially what was happening I think on the ground  is  not  everyone  got  …. The other thing that Congresswoman Almario mentioned was that we were advertising and we were publicizing…which in a sense is true, in the sense that that’s our duty. We have a lot of grants, we have to make this public. But in our adjustment already, internally, we said priority would be given to the recommendees, the listahan of the congressmen. Eh di

bahala na yan. Well, in fact, my instructions to the Regional Directors - please forgive them for whatever weaknesses they may have but this was all so sudden and we are a lean organization. We really do not have the staff on the ground to handle all of a sudden this huge new allotment of scholars and a new system pa, plus we have to deal with COA and the legitimacy of no PDAF, but we have this allocation. So even they have difficulty understanding. Finally, I said, Okay people, this is the way it just has to be. You know, I know it was supposed to be illegal, dapat wala na but actually meron pa, because they are also taken by surprise. In fact, nagmakaawa na rin ako. I said, the congressmen did not expect this, this is something that they had all of this time. Then all of a sudden they are told it is illegal. What do you expect them to do? So at any rate, I tried to get CHED to understand and the Regional Directors. However, there were some who already publicized na. That is true. And there are many people out there, who really think I now have 4.1 billion new scholarships. They  don’t  think  it’s PDAF, they don’t  think  it’s  going to you. These are perfectly intelligent people, they say ”Wow, I will publicize in Sorsogon that, you know, you have all of these extra scholarships. And then I’m  supposed  to  tell  them, No! No! don’t  do  that,  because actually the congressmen are all going to get it. So, we have to go through this kind of…semblance. We understand each other. I really want to cooperate.

Now, with regard to your points. Excuse me, please. Congressman Rufus, you have tremendously innovative programs and I really like what you do. Unfortunately  they’re  a  little exotic for our guidelines, which we are bound to follow. So how can we do that, how can we find new guidelines, which  would…  These are not new guidelines. They are old guidelines with  just  a  few…in fact a few changes, that came from our interactions with Congress. They were the ones who put in some suggestions, we went through some public consultations. But we have to have one set of guidelines. That is what will protect us from being accused of being intimidated by the Congressmen. See? No! We’re  not intimidated, we’re  not  whatever.  We  have  guidelines! And as long as the guidelines are followed, you and I and the government is protected. That’s the reason why, you have to, I beg your indulgence, you have to respect and… these guidelines. Now, your programs. There must be a way where we can handle those. But to be very honest, Congressman Rufus ,  you’re  a  little…you’re  an  outlier.  It’s  a  little  bit  difficult to handle that  you’re  sending them to UP, they are going to medicine, for some you pay all the transportation, you pay so many things.  It’s  not  in  our  guidelines.  It’s very difficult to make that part of the guidelines. Guidelines should find the common denominator. Something that will accommodate as many as possible. So yours and a few others - the

Speaker’s,  Congressman  Rodriguez,  uhh,  Congressman Gonzales. You have rather exotic needs, which we said we will still try to solve. But unfortunately, our guidelines do not apply.

Now, how is it? I cannot believe... Chair Ungab, that we are so bad! That compared to – there are five agencies you downloaded to. How could CHED…that’s  why  I’m  asking  our  colleagues here. How could it be that that everyone else is doing so wonderfully and accommodating and everyone loves them. And here CHED is the only one na palpak? Pa’no  naman  nangyari  yun?  So  that’s…  And I will, and I do. I have met our Regional Directors, how many times, Joji? Maybe five times. We call them here every time Sherry texts  me  and  says  “More  problems.  You  know, these are the complaints, these are coming  in.”  Summon,  summon  please.  Bring  them  to  Manila.  Let’s  work  this  out.  And  I know there are some that may be problematic. But for the most part, parang they seem to be already working.

This morning we had another meeting, and I said ano pa’ng mga problema? One seems to be…yung listahan ng congressmen, do not complete their allotment. And  so  they’re  worried about losing that. So we have to find a solution. And maybe this thing of downloading to the SUCs. And if DBM will allow a trust fund. Because DBM is quite against trust funds, to be quite honest. We’re  caught.  Everyone is applying their rules on us  and  we’re  trying  to  be  obedient.  You  can’t  follow  all  the  rules  pala at the same time. Because the rules conflict. Okay. So that might be a solution.

The other problem is – sobra. Because, one,  it’s  possible  that  our  Regional Directors, in their zeal, already did their job before we told them what the restrictions were. That actually, this is not true, you do not have  four  point…you  do  not  have fourteen million per district na extra. This will really be for the congressmen. So they had already publicized it the way they normally do, normally do, and they have applications. So, we said, well you have to worry about that as well, may sobra.

And  the  other  one…problem  that  you  always  bring  out,  Congressman  Ungab, about priority courses.  We’ve  tried  really to accommodate that within some flexibility. Because we said, okay, may priority courses nga ang CHED. However, each Regional Director has the prerogative to expand it. Three percent. Three percent, yeah. So, keep that in mind.

So…so,  I  just  beg  the  group  to  try  and  come  up  with  a  practical  solution.  I  tell  you. I do not have an attitude problem here. I  am  really  trying.  And  I’m  a  reasonably  competent  person.  I’m  a  reasonable  manager.  How am I failing here? When I am also dealing and accepting the political reality that this is PDAF, that we are just changing for this transition  year.  You  have  all  said,  “Next  year,  dederecho  na  kami. We  are  going…”  Ano  yan,  when  we  are  negotiating,  they  say,  “Next  year,  hindi  na  sa  CHED  yan.”  Ay  salamat,  sabi ko. Salamat. Talaga. Because it is really so much.  It  is  a  headache.  I’d  like  to  find  a  solution. Please, believe me.

[Audio recording proceeds for another one hour and five minutes.]