Belgica v. Executive Secretary, G.R. No.

208566, November 19, 2013

Topic: XIV. Local Autonomy (Sec. 25); Read also Art. X (Local Government) & R.A. 7160 (the Local
Government Code)

Facts:
The NBI Investigation was spawned by sworn affidavits of six (6) whistle-blowers who declared that
JLN Corporation (Janet Lim Napoles) had swindled billions of pesos from the public coffers for "ghost
projects" using dummy NGOs.
Thus, Criminal complaints were filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, charging five (5)
lawmakers for Plunder, and three (3) other lawmakers for Malversation, Direct Bribery, and Violation
of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Also recommended to be charged in the complaints are
some of the lawmakers’ chiefs -of-staff or representatives, the heads and other officials of three (3)
implementing agencies, and the several presidents of the NGOs set up by Napoles.
Whistle-blowers alleged that" at least P900 Million from royalties in the operation of the Malampaya
gas project off Palawan province intended for agrarian reform beneficiaries has gone into a dummy
NGO. Several petitions were lodged before the Court similarly seeking that the "Pork Barrel System"
be declared unconstitutional.

Issue:
Whether or not the 2013 PDAF Article and all other Congressional Pork Barrel Laws similar thereto
are unconstitutional considering that they violate the principles of/constitutional provision local
autonomy.

Ruling:
Yes, 2013 PDAF Article and all other Congressional Pork Barrel Laws similar thereto are
unconstitutional considering that they violate the principles of/constitutional provision local
autonomy.
The Court, however, finds an inherent defect in the system which actually belies the avowed
intention of “making equal the unequal.”
The gauge of PDAF and CDF allocation/division is based solely on the fact of office, without taking
into account the specific interests and peculiarities of the district the legislator represents.
As a result, a district representative of a highly-urbanized metropolis gets the same amount of
funding as a district representative of a far-flung rural province which would be relatively
“underdeveloped” compared to the former. To add, what rouses graver scrutiny is that even
Senators and Party-List Representatives – and in some years, even the Vice-President – who do not
represent any locality, receive funding from the Congressional Pork Barrel as well.
The Court also observes that this concept of legislator control underlying the CDF and PDAF conflicts
with the functions of the various Local Development Councils (LDCs), instrumentalities whose
functions are essentially geared towards managing local affairs. The programs, policies and
resolutions of LDCs should not be overridden nor duplicated by individual legislators, who are
national officers that have no law-making authority except only when acting as a body.