Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL No. _____ 
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Introduced by  
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,  
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,  
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
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AN ACT 
CREATING THE CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON THE 
NATIONAL BUDGET 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The delineation of powers of the legislative and executive branches of the 
government in the national budget is clearly defined in the different provisions of the 
1987 Constitution — Section 22, Article VII, which states that the President shall 
submit to the Congress the proposed national budget, and Section 24 Article VI, which 
gave to Congress the power of the purse with “All appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, 
bills authorizing increase of the public debt, bills of local application, and private bills 
shall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives” and “the Senate may 
propose or concur with amendments.” 
Further, the Executive Branch is tasked with the implementation of the 
appropriation law passed by Congress, through Section 17, Article VII, which states 
that, “The President shall have control of all the executive departments, bureaus, and 
offices. He shall ensure that the laws be faithfully executed.” 
Aside from these, there are several provisions for checks and balances for the 
three branches of government under the Constitution. Rules for national government 
budgeting were further provided in Book VI of the Administrative Code of 1987 or 
Executive Order 292, series of 1987. 
February 14, 2023
1:45 pm
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Every General Appropriations Act (GAA) passed by Congress provided for the 
creation of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditure. Under 
Section 105 of the General Provisions of the GAA FY 2023, the Committee was 
mandated to “primarily monitor compliance by agencies with the requirements or 
conditions in the utilization of public funds under this Act and pertinent laws.” The 
Committee, co-chaired by the Senate Chairperson of Finance and the House of 
Representatives Committee on Appropriations, was last chaired during the 17th 
Congress by Senator Loren Legarda and Congressman Rolando Andaya. 
 
The Supreme Court ruled in the case ABAKADA Guro Party List et. al. vs. Cesar 
V. Purisima et. al. (562 SCRA 287) said that the post enactment measures such as the 
Committee formation shall be confined to: “(i) scrutiny based primarily on Congress’ 
power of appropriation and the budget hearings conducted in connection with it, its 
power to ask heads of departments to appear before and be heard by either of its Houses 
and in any matter pertaining to their departments, and its power of confirmation; and 
(ii) investigation and monitoring of the implementation of laws pursuant to the power 
of the Congress to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation.” 
 
Despite all these, the issues of pork barrel, Priority Development Assistance 
Fund (PDAF), and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) exposed the problems 
and weaknesses in the actual budget process. PDAF, DAP and other similar 
discretionary funds did not only contravene the law but more importantly took away 
huge amounts of public funds intended for social services for the people and realigned 
to projects, programs, activities and areas upon the individual discretion of some 
government officials. 
 
The Supreme Court did not only declare PDAF and DAP as unconstitutional but 
also pointed out the excesses of the executive branch in realigning the budget for DAP. 
 
While the executive reports to Congress during the budget deliberations and 
before the budget approval, the information on how they implement the budget 
approved by Congress is difficult to come by once the budget is approved. 
 
Congress needs to strengthen its oversight function in the budget process to 
enhance the effectiveness of the national budget towards the country’s development 
goals and people’s well-being. Instead of an Ad Hoc Committee created in every GAA, 
we need a strong, permanent, Congressional oversight committee with defined powers. 
 
This Bill proposes the creation of the permanent Congressional Oversight 
Committee on the National Budget and defines the functions of the Committee to help 
stamp out corruption and ensure effective delivery of services to the people. Congress 
has all the right to perform its oversight functions on laws it has passed, including the 
appropriation law it passes every year. 
 
 
 


In view of the forgoing, the immediate passage of this Bill is earnestly sought. 
________________________________ 
Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO 
ACT Teachers Party-List 
________________________________ 
Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS 
GABRIELA Women’s Party 
________________________________ 
Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
KABATAAN Party-List 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL No. _____ 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Introduced by  
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,  
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,  
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
AN ACT 
CREATING THE CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON THE 
NATIONAL BUDGET 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. – It is hereby declared the policy of the 
State to formulate and implement a National Budget that is an instrument of national 
development, reflective of national objectives, strategies and plans. Public funds must 
be effectively and efficiently allocated for the actual needs of the people. The Congress 
which approves the budget must exercise its mandate to ensure that the appropriation 
law it passed shall be effectively implemented and faithfully executed according to the 
General Appropriations Act it approved. 
SEC. 2. Creation of the Congressional Oversight Committee on the National 
Budget. – There is hereby created a Congressional Oversight Committee on the 
National Budget. The Committee shall replace the Joint Congressional Oversight 
Committee on Public Expenditures. 
SEC. 3. Composition. – The Congressional Oversight Committee on the 
National Budget shall be co-chaired by the Chairperson of the Committee on Finance 
of the Senate and the Chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
Representatives. The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of the 
Representatives shall designate seven (7) Senators and seven (7) Members of the House 
of the Representatives as members of the Congressional Oversight Committee on the 
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National Budget. Provided, That the minority shall have one (1) seat each from the 
Senate and the House of Representatives. 
 
 
SEC. 4. Functions. – The Congressional Oversight Committee on the National 
Budget shall have the following functions: 
 
a. Conduct hearing and investigations in aid of legislation on post budget enactment 
matters pertaining to the national budget; 
b. Require reports from government agencies on budget implementation; 
c. Summon implementors of the programs, activities and projects (PAPs) included 
in the general appropriation acts; 
d. Recommend prosecution of erring government officials; 
e. Come out with studies to improve the budget process; and 
f. Subpoena and contempt powers. 
 
 
SEC. 5. Repealing Clause.  All laws, executive and administrative orders or 
parts thereof, inconsistent with any provisions of this Act, including Section 105 of 
Republic Act 11936 are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
 
 
SEC. 6. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or one (1) newspaper of general circulation. 
 
 
Approved,