THE Supreme Court is set to hold oral arguments today, Wednesday, on the six petitions challenging the government’s plan to bury former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City.

The oral arguments will focus on whether or not the case is justiciable, that is, ripe for adjudication, whether the petitions are proper for certiorari or prohibition, whether the petitioners are entitled to a temporary restraining order, whether the issue violates constitutional provisions and whether the implementation of the assailed issuance by the petitioners amounts to a violation of the equal protection clause.

Read more: malaya.com.ph

Members of the “legitimate” minority bloc in the House of Representatives on Tuesday said they would not oppose the move to postpone the conduct of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to October 23, 2017.

In a press briefing, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the group of lawmakers who claimed to be the minority bloc would join the majority coalition in supporting the bill as long as the proposed legislation would not call for the abolition of the SK and the kagawad or barangay council.

“As far as the postponement of the barangay and SK elections is concerned, the legitimate eight will have no objection to the postponement, as long as this is spelled out very clearly,” Lagman said.

Read more: inquirer.net

What unforeseen event is President Duterte preparing for by asking for a P2-billion confidential and intelligence fund, and P5.5-billion contingency fund for 2017?

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman on Wednesday said the inordinate increase in the President’s budget was “alarming in the face of extrajudicial and shortcut procedures employed by the present administration in pursuing its announced priorities.”

The President is carrying out a costly war against illegal drugs and has promised rewards to police and civilians who nail down or provide information for the capture of drug lords.

PRESS STATEMENT
Office of Rep. Edcel C. Lagman
(LP-Albay)
0916-6406737 / 0918-9120137
24 August 2016

The inordinate 400% increase in the President’s confidential and intelligence funds in the combined augmentation of P2.0 billion for 2017 from P500 million in 2016 is alarming in the face of extrajudicial and shortcut procedures employed by the present administration in pursuing its announced priorities.

The expenditure of confidential and intelligence funds traditionally defies or does not follow regular accounting procedures.

The fund utilization is subject to abuse which is difficult to validate due to the lack of paper trails and dearth of verifiable accounts.

Due to the suspect nature of confidential and intelligence funds, the Executive must be judicious or prudent in proposing huge appropriations for these expense items.

The Contingent Fund of the President, which is a lump sum appropriation, also escalated from P2.5 billion to P5.5 billion or an increase of P3.0 billion (120% augmentation) which appears to be the highest in history.

Since contingencies by their nature are not pre-determined, the Duterte administration may be expecting an avalanche of contingencies.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN