DOF-House tiff over reimbursement may reach court

Differences with the administration on which expenditures made by lawmakers can be shouldered by the government may reach the court after the House of Representatives yesterday failed to pass a bill amending the “public purpose” law.

In its final session before adjourning sine die, the 18-seat chamber failed to meet the required three-fourths votes to approve the measure passed by the Senate in its last session on Tuesday as only 13 members were present.

SB 11-161, offered by Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes, would have accepted reimbursements of expenditures incurred by some members of the Legislature that have been questioned by the Department of Finance.

It would have also widened the scope of “public purpose” as defined in the existing law and as provided in the Constitution in a bid to end disputes between lawmakers and Finance Sec. Lucy DLG Nielsen over their government accounts.

Since most of the House members are not coming back when the next congress is inaugurated on Monday, Speaker Diego T. Benavente said the issue may be brought to court to resolve the dilemma.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next Legislature. A lot of members will not be returning,” he told in an interview after the session. “We may take the issue to court.”

Mr. Reyes echoed his concerns, noting that legislators’ requests for reimbursements still pending with DOF will not be processed without the approval of his proposal. “We have to wait,” he said in a separate interview.

The Legislature has been at odds with Ms. Nielsen over what lawmakers claim as tight watch on their expenditures, such as tent rentals for funerals and novenas which they believe are within the parameters of “public purpose.”

While Public Law 11-84 was enacted last year to bridge differences by defining its scope, disputes have escalated in recent months prompting some lawmakers to call for Ms. Nielsen’s resignation.

Watered-down version

Intended to further clear ambiguities, SB 11-161 is an offshoot to an earlier Senate bill that was amended by the House to remove provisions including such cultural practices as funerals and novenas within its definition due to strong opposition by the Tenorio administration.

To seek a compromise, Mr. Reyes revised the bill to reinstate the clause by making sure that reimbursable expenses must be within the respective house rules of each chamber. This version was passed by the Senate and was in line for voting by the House in its last session yesterday.

“I’m doing this to take care of some of the problems, especially by those members who are leaving the Legislature, but have yet to clear their accounts with Finance,” said the senator.

The Senate has its own rules which state that expenditures incurred from providing tents, decorations and other expenses for funerals, death anniversaries and novenas, among other community activities can be reimbursed from each senator’s respective account on condition that they are not for personal or political gain.

The lower house doesn’t have such rules — a situation that has been a source of rift between its members and the finance department.

“If this bill becomes a law, the House doesn’t need to put these rules in place if it doesn’t want to,” explained Mr. Reyes. “It can have that option.”

Reacting to the presence of acting Attorney General Maya B. Kara during yesterday’s session where she was believed to be lobbying against its passage, the senator believed it should be a cause of concern.

“I don’t think that she should get involved in the legislative process where we are trying to resolve the issues. We didn’t make changes with respect to what the administration wants — which is to accept those questionable expenditures,” said Mr. Reyes.