Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman has clarified that the agency has no authority to participate in budget insertions, countering claims about its alleged involvement.

Pangandaman appeared before the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) on Tuesday, Oct. 14, to explain the national budget processes. She said in a statement that these processes “provide no room for the DBM to participate in the so-called ‘budget insertion.’”

Such processes cover the National Expenditure Program (NEP), or the proposed budget crafted by the executive, and the General Appropriations Act (GAA), known as the approved national budget.

Pangandaman said the DBM “does not have the authority to introduce insertions into the national budget.”

“Referred to as Congress-introduced changes and adjustments (CICAs), such insertions occur not during NEP preparation, but during the bicameral conference committee deliberations between the two houses of Congress,” she explained.

Under the Constitution, Congress retains the “power of the purse,” she said, adding that the DBM’s role is limited to “explaining, clarifying, and defending the proposed allocations” once the NEP has been submitted to Congress.

“The authority to introduce, realign, or amend items rests solely with the legislative branch,” she stressed.