It is time to debate the budget at Congress. And its members know that Malacañang will not risk agitating legislators at this crucial period. The Palace is indeed sending messages to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) not to press the issue of House members surrendering their statements of assets, liabilities and networth (SALns). The P10-billion pork barrel scandal had dragged the names of several senators and congressmen and the BIR has found valid reason to do a sweep on the financial records of many politicians including critics of Noynoy. This was done against former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona who was impeached and eventually removed from office mainly based on omissions in his yearly SALns. The yearly submission of the SALns, in turn, is a constitutional requirement and has an April 30 deadline. The fact that the BIR is having a hard time requesting from congressmen their SALns means that they have yet to submit the documents which is already a breach of the law. It is less of a problem at the Senate since the 23 senators have all submitted their financial records. The Palace, however, seems more than willing to accommodate the delinquent members of the House, which is packed with its allies, with mouthpiece Abigail Valte even proclaiming that the BIR cannot compel congressmen to submit their SALns because the BIR is part of the Executive which is co-equal with Congress as one of the branches of government. The patronizing attitude of Malacañang toward legislators is likely related to the coming budget deliberations in which several controversial items such as the P63-billion lump sum called the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program will be placed under tight scrutiny. Noynoy ally, Speaker Sonny Belmonte, needed to call a meeting with the House members to discuss the BIR request for the SALns submission which reflects the weak leadership at the chamber since some House members are already violating a constitutional requirement. The legislators do have a valid fear, particularly among those known to be critical of Noynoy, that their financial records can be used against them but that does not mitigate the fact that they have not complied with the law. The House leader would have all the right to order his constituents at the House to submit their SALns without the need of holding a meeting with House members. The submission of the SALns is not optional but is a requirement and a consitutional duty of the House members. The investigations being conducted by several agencies, including the BIR and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on the P10-billion scam suspected to have been perpetrated by a syndicate led by Janet Lim Napoles is being closely followed by the public whose sentiment on politicians has always been at a gutter low due mainly to the billions of pesos of public funds that go yearly into the pork barrel of legislators. The suspicions bred by the scam which is supposedly going on for years before being uncovered is not exactly what Congress is looking for to improve its public image. Now, the defiance of congressmen in making their financial status public through the SALns, which to many, is already an admission of guilt. The pork barrel scandal has placed the entire Congress on the spotlight and the tug of war between the BIR and the House over the SALns submissions is providing fuel for public anger to be directed against what is becoming literally the lower House. The Palace, in helping out to protect its allies and its interests at the House does not in any measure help in reducing the accumulating public distrust against the supposed representatives of the people. The sad fact, however, is that politicians should not have been the center of public attention but the scam syndicate of Napoles. Belmonte’s inability to make House members comply with the law is a scandal in itself.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 08:28:33 +0000