THE PRESIDENT NOR HIS ALTER EGOS CANNOT DICTATE THE ALLOWANCE AND BENEFITS THAT MAY BE RECEIVED BY THE OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND FISCAL AUTONOMY GROUP (CFAG)

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In Maritime Industry Authority vs. the Commission on Audit, the Supreme Court upheld this, to wit:

VII: Constitutional and Fiscal
Autonomy Group (CFAG)

“We must, however, differentiate the guidelines for the grant of allowances and benefits to officials and employees of members of the Constitutional and Fiscal Autonomy Group. The judiciary, Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit, Commission on Elections, and the Office of the Ombudsman are granted fiscal autonomy by the Constitution. The fiscal autonomy enjoyed by the Constitutional and Fiscal Autonomy Group is an aspect of the members’ independence guaranteed by the Constitution. Their independence is a necessary component for their existence and survival in our form of government.

In Bengzon v. Drilon, this court said:

As envisioned in the Constitution, the fiscal autonomy enjoyed by the Judiciary, the Civil Service Commission, the Commission on Audit, the Commission on Elections, and the Office of the Ombudsman contemplates a guarantee of full flexibility to allocate and utilize their resources with the wisdom and dispatch that their needs require. It recognizes the power and authority to levy, assess and collect fees, fix rates of compensation not exceeding the highest rates authorized by law for compensation and pay loans of the government and allocate and disburse such sums as may be provided by law or prescribed by them in the course of the discharge of their functions.

As this court held in Re: COA Opinion on the Computation of the Appraised Value of the Properties Purchased by the Retired Chief/Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, “real fiscal autonomy covers the grant to the Judiciary of the authority to use and dispose of its funds and properties at will, free from any outside control or interference.” This includes the judgment to use its funds to provide additional allowances and benefits to its officials and employees deemed to be necessary and relevant in the performance of their functions in the office. Due to the nature of the functions of the Constitutional and Fiscal Autonomy Group and the constitutional grant of fiscal autonomy, an issuance by the Department of Budget and Management or any other agency of the government is not necessary to exclude an allowance or benefit from the standardized salary.

The entity entrusted by Republic Act No. 6758 to determine the benefits and allowances that are not deemed integrated is the Department of Budget and Management. It studies the necessity and reasonableness of the grant of the allowance and, more importantly, its practicability, that is, whether the government has enough budget to grant the allowance. This is in line with our form of government where the “sound management and effective utilization of financial resources of government are basically executive functions.” On the other hand, the budget of the Constitutional and Fiscal Autonomy Group is constitutionally mandated to be released regularly. How these constitutional bodies manage and utilize their budget is within their prerogative and authority to determine. The officials of the Constitutional and Fiscal Autonomy Group can determine whether the budget allocated and released by the government to them can deliver the allowances and benefits its employees will receive. The executive cannot interfere with how funds will be used or disbursed without violating the separation of powers.

Allowing the President or his or her alter ego to dictate the allowances or benefits that may be received by the officers and employees of the Constitutional and Fiscal Autonomy Group will undermine their independence. This arrangement is repugnant to their autonomy enshrined by the Constitution. As said in Velasco v. Commission on Audit, the grant or regulation of the grant of productivity incentive allowance or similar benefits are in the exercise of the President’s power of control over these entities. Not being under the President’s power of control, the Constitutional and Fiscal Autonomy Group should be able to determine the allowances or benefits that suit the functions of the office.

Nonetheless, expenditures of government funds by the Constitutional and Fiscal Autonomy Group are still audited by the Commission on Audit on a post-audit basis.”

Source: G.R. No. 185812, January 13, 2015
Link: https://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2015/jan2015/gr_185812_2015.html

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