Former Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Salceda denied former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio’s claim that he was behind the provision in the 2024 General Appropriations Bill allowing the Department of Finance to sweep excess Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC) funds into the National Treasury.
“First of all, I cannot make an insertion in the 2024 budget because I was not a member of the House Appropriations Committee, or the ‘Small Committee’, or the Bicameral Committee during the whole 19th Congress,” Salceda said.
He added that Carpio’s claim is incorrect: “That is factually incorrect. I introduced House Bill No. 9513, which sought a cash sweep of GOCCs with idle funds, to fund the 2023 budget unprogrammed allocations.”
Salceda explained that his 2023 proposal aimed to support health allocations, including the Public Health Emergency Allowance and the Health Facilities Support Fund, each requiring around ₱52 billion. He emphasized it was driven by the need to repay pandemic-era borrowings while honoring the government’s “no new taxes” pledge.
He clarified that the bill never became law and was not refiled for the 2024 budget.
“Any connection between me and that idea ended there. I never filed that bill again or filed any bill for the 2024 budget,” he said.
Salceda also noted the concept predates his bill, originating from an earlier Bayanihan measure during the pandemic, which likewise did not become law.
He stressed that his proposal left key decisions on defining “excess” funds and which corporations should remit them to the Executive Branch, and did not amend GOCC charters: “If their charters prevented them from doing any transfer, then they cannot be forced to make any transfer.”
He concluded that whether the House Committee on Appropriations included similar provisions in the 2024 budget was beyond his involvement: “It is entirely up to their discretion. It is customary for other members of Congress to copy from my bills.”