Cross-border

I was intrigued by the use of the Supreme Court of the word “cross-border” in the DAP decision to describe the transfer of funds earmarked under the General Appropriations Act from one branch of the government to another. By way of background, Article VI, Section 25 (5) of the 1987 Constitution provides that “No law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however, the President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the heads of Constitutional Commissions may, by law, be authorized to augment any item in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations.”

In essence, this section prohibits the transfer of appropriations among the three branches of government or from one branch to a constitutional commission such as Comelec or COA, and vice versa.

The main rationale for the prohibition is to preserve the independence of the political branches and the constitutional commissions. If “transfers” are allowed, a “rich” branch can influence the actions of a “poor” branch. In Justice Teodoro Padilla’s dissent in Gonzales v. Macaraig, he described the “juggling of funds as often a rich source of unbridled patronage, abuse and interminable corruption.”

It has been argued that the prohibition on transfers refers only to appropriations and not to savings but it is quite plain that the rationale applies to savings as well. There is still a debate as to what constitutes “savings” but that is for another column to tackle.

But if the transfer of funds from one branch to another is constitutionally prohibited, then why did the Judiciary request the Executive for money to help build halls of justice? Or why are judges allowed to receive allowances and other compensation from local government units? Does not the rationale of undue influence also come into play?

On a lighter note, I personally associate the term cross-border with the Mexican “wet-backs” (which had evolved into a derogatory slur against illegal aliens) who would cross the Rio Grande to enter the United States through Texas.  Locally, it is the name of a popular band.  In the world of international finance, cross-border financing refers to arrangements that crosses national borders and involves multi-national players. But in Constitutional law, the term seems out-of-place unless we see the departments and constitutional commissions as sovereign within their own spheres. And in reality, their relationship is marked more by inter-dependence rather than independence. In any event, the practice of transferring funds is probably better described as either cross-branch, cross-department or cross-agency.  

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Lucky August???: August 2014 may not turn out to be as lucky after all.  The chain mail which claimed that the phenomenon of having 5 Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in one month happens only once every 823 years turned out to be a hoax. Reader Austin Ordes wrote to say that it happens not as remotely as had been portrayed.  He pointed to March 2013 and August 2008 as two relatively recent examples. So for those expecting full pockets this month, do not hold your breath for good luck (especially since it encompasses part of the ghost month.) Just rely on tried-and-tested perseverance and hard work to make your dreams come true.

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Special Greetings:  Last year, we were compelled to break this column’s hard-and-fast rule that a birth anniversary or other greeting may only be conveyed if the event actually fell on a Saturday. The exceptional celebrant then was my dear mother, Angelita Donato Bautista, who was turning 80 on the first Friday of August. This year we go back to the general rule. As she celebrates her birth anniversary today, I invited my youngest brother, Jose “Wito,” to provide his four centavos.

“Today, Mother Lita turns 81. Like her remaining batch-mates from St. Scholastica, she suffers from osteoarthritis and other aches and pains.

At her age and condition, you would expect her to be out of touch and disconsolate, but the last time I visited her, she was warning me about UE being a potential threat to Ateneo’s comeback to the final four.

For as long as it is in Metro Manila, regardless of the weather and her arthritic condition, she makes it a point to go to the wakes, birthdays, weddings, baptisms and reunions of her friends and classmates, their children, grand-children and great grand-children. Being there, in a quiet way… not attracting attention, but always showing up, that’s vintage Lita B.

She is one of the very few women I know who could not tell what a signature suit, bag or belt looks like, probably because she shied away from the scene and took the equally difficult path of being a full-time mother of six.

But there are things that she takes seriously. Two of which she does every day without fail. First, it is to go to the 6 a.m. morning mass and second, it is to pray the evening rosary. For as long as I can remember, she has performed these two activities with discipline and precision. During her US trips to visit my brothers and sister, she would look for the nearest Church and memorize the mass schedules. She is proud to proclaim that since she was 16, she has never missed her daily mass unless she had to give birth.

Indeed, her most valuable investments were placed in relationships — with God, her family and her many friends. Today, she continues to rake in the dividends.

More than 20 years ago, I was on a prolonged retreat in Mindanao. One day I received a four-page handwritten letter from her. In the last paragraph, it read: “Well Wito I guess I have to close. Know how to deal with your superiors, fellow teachers and teenage pupils.” In the 800-word letter, she underlines two in the last paragraph: Know how.

When it comes to preserving and deepening relationships, Lita has the know-how. Happy Birthday Mom!”

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“The end may justify the means as long as there

is something that justifies the end.” ? Leon Trotsky

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