Congress and the AFP

Media

Part of Philippine Armed Forces Journal

Title
Congress and the AFP
Language
English
Source
Philippine Armed Forces Journal Volume IX (No. 3) January 1956
Year
1956
Rights
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Fulltext
PreJident Mag•ay•ay ;, •hawn in phata aba•e delivering hi• Jlate al the nation addreu befare member> af the Senate and the Hause af Reprtotntati>"es during opening af third reuian af third Cangreu /aot wee~. The President dwelt maotly an the natiana/ ecanamy, "' 10 legi•lalive guidepaJio, and Jtreutd the happineu and tht oecurily a/the camman man a• the basic philaoaphy af the adminiotratian. Cos~i~:C~.sson~s, o/" th:ol~~~:~ great co-equal branches of our government; the executive department is another; and, the last, but not the least, is the judiciary. It is Congress that formulates the law. The executive department implements the law. And the judiciary interprets the law. In formulating the law~· Congress lays down governmental policy. That is exactly what Congress does when it approves an appropriation bill that becomes later on an appropriation law. How Congress goes about this duty is interesting to the Arn1ed Forces since it is Congress, as the spokesman of the people, that del.z.t the AFP by lieutenant Colonel Ignacio Coloma termine the size, activity or role of the military, naval and air arms of the Republic. Appropriations Comm•ttee A few days after the opening of each regular session of Congress, the President submits his budget for the next fiscal year. Proposed appropriations for the Armed For~ - ces are included in the budget submiotted. The budget message of the President, together with the budget itself, is referred right away to the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. The budget is not submitted to the Senate because all money bills, by provision of the constitution, must emanate from the lower house of the Legislature. The Committee on Appropriations is composed of a chairman and 16 members. The chairman and a majority of the members belong to the majority party which is the Nacionalista Party at this writing. However, the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party are represented in accordance with the applicable r~les and regulations of the House of Representatives. The Committee on Appropriations then conducts hearings on the budget. Usually, these hearings are scheduled after the Technical Staff of the Committee has sufficiently studied the budget proposals of the President. The purpose of these hearings is to clear some doubts which the members of the committee may have about certain allocations in the budget. As the chairman of the committee usually puts it, the hearings are for the purpose of understanding each other. When the time of the Anned Forces comes for such hearings, all the brass are there: The Secretary of National Defense, the Chief of Staff, the Assistant Chiefs of Staff at the GHQ level, and the commanders of all major services with their respective staffs. All the comptrollers together with their respective specialists, who are principally concerned in the hearings, are always around during the hearings. All sorts of data are brouf!ht with them so as to be ready when called for. Committee Hearings The questions asked during the hearings vary: sometimes, they affect the general features of the budget proposals; on other occasions, they refer to minor details that may not have been expected at all. Usually, a majority of th~ inquiries comes from the minority party members. However, when Congress is not in good terms with the executive branch of the government, it is the other way around. Hence, when the budget proposal of the President is hs.ving a rough sailing in Congress, it is either because the fiscalizing ) ' ~ Congrtu holds lht go>'trnmtnl puue and thtrtby dtltrm"''' among olhtn lht 11: .. and ocfr~rly of the dtftnJt force~ The Prtl<dtnl 1 budget proporolr art studred duflng "''"'""' by Approprtotrono Commrffu composed of reprtotnlolrnr of both tht mDJDflly and tire mrnotJiy p<>rl••• rn Congrtu, from wluch money br/11 tmonole efforts of the minority is effective 01 the majority is also fiscalb:ing the administration. The hardest situation of all is when the latter • happens, because, if it is only the minority that is objecting, the President's budget will neverthe• less be approved. The budget hearings sometimes be~ ome difficult for those who operate the government agencies. This is because almost all the agencies in the government ask for as much funds as they can. This is a natural tendency, as the agen cies have to be adequately financed in all their activities in order to have satisfact.Jry performance. Every year, the revenue of the government is always less than the total amount asked for by the different agencies for expenditure. Congress has either to impose additional taxes on the people or reduce the budgetary requests of the agencies. The policy of the present administration, as announced last year, is~ to avoid imposing additional taxes on the pwple. Because of this, the tendenCy of Congt·ess is to trim the budgets. When a slashing of the budget is unavoidable, the big agencies are the ones whose budgetary 1·equests are reduced. The Armed Forces of the Philippines is one of them. And experience has shown that the Armed Forces is always vulnerable. the floor is also an invitation for "" j. discussion and comment from other members of Congress. The usual method of approving the budget is the approval of the budget bill on a page--to-page basis. Objectionable items are subjected to all sorts of scrutiny and ~ attack as they are reached. There is not much that can be done during the floor discussions by budget experts from the Armed Forces. They can only give data from the sides of the session hall. These data or information mat~ 8udgel propo1of1 of the AFP ore prepared through combined effort• of comptrof fer< and fiJcof •pecooli•t•, willt on eye on de/enJe ond economic proreciJ ond progromJ. Slo11tu of budget by Congreu, howe~••· do nol spore outloy for AFP. Fund shortage hod olwor• been AFP"• bigge•l problem Floor Discussions rials arc usually given to tnembers The floor discussions on the bud- of the majority party for usc in get are held after the Appropria- the defense of the recommended tions Committee has made its re- budget against attacks from the port to the Speaker. It is during minority. The attacks are general the rendition of the committee re- in nature so that the counter-atport that the Chairman of the commitee makes o! record his recommendation that the budget, including that of the A1·med Forces, be approved. The report made on tacks are also in general terms. Working for the restoration of items cut by the committee is 'aifficult. Experience has shown that members of the Armed Forces arc I ,, _. ·{ . .. JANUARY 1955 greatly handicapped when it comes to working for restoration of items cut. A legislator sym· pathetic to the Armed Forces may sponsor the move for the restoration, and a group of army officers conversant with the budget may be designated by the A FP to assist the sponsor. Such was the recent assignment of some AFP officers, of which this writer was one. The AFP officers have al· ready planned their moves, made arrangements, and walked with the sponsoring legislator up to Mutual Acquaintance There has been mentioned now and then of the so called "Malacafiang breakfast" dyring sessions of Congress. These and similar devices are believed intended to promote good relationship bet,.. ween the Chief Executive and Congress. They are also designed to enable the individual members of Congress or the Pl·esident to learn the facts about any given problem and arrive at a com· mon understanding. On the AFP level, the clamour program · h Congreumen wit~ AFP - w~at it ~o<, loeb, and need< - ;, alway< neceuory. Sympal~etic membeTJ of Congreu hove often to~en up cudgel< lor Armed force<. f~perience hod 1hown the AFP ir vulnerable to upoet of budget and prajectr. Among alhero, AFP'< porlicipalion in economic dhelopment which io o mojor concern of the Pre<idenf entailo finonce<. the session hall, together with the from some quarters is for a year· members of the technical staff of round program to acquaint our Sc-the Committee on Appropriations nators and Congressmen about the in the Senate, when a member Armed Forces: what it has and boomed: "Mr. President, I request what it lacks. Mutual acquaintthat all persops not members of ance between Congress and the the Senate clear the floor." Non- other agencies of the government legislators, the army officers in· is necessary for a better insight duded, scampered to the sides of into the needs of one another. The the session hall, and the plans military does not engage in poliwere altered tics merely because it develops an PIIILIPPIN"S ARMED FORCES JOURNAL \., acquaintance with Congress. Ac pt·oblems of the Armed Forces. quaintanceship is propet· up to the The main thing is not that of getpoint where interference in the ting a bigger appropriation this work of each does not result. The year, or next year. The pl'imordia\ effort is for mutual benefit, for thing is the best interest of the the legislators to know what the nation in a war·lhreatened world. Armed Forces needs; and, for the Armed Forces officers and men to have an opportunity to inform their law.makers about their dif· ficulties, which the former will be glad to solve whenever they can for the general welfare. It is the duty of the Armed For· ces to advise Congress through the President. It is to Congress' advantage, in turn, t..o seek that advice. Like any other advice, however, the recomn1endation of the Armed Forces may be accep· ted or rejected. What is necessary is a better understanding by Congress of the Lt. Col. Ignacio Colomu ..