Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (PPAB)

Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong assailed Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) officials on Wednesday, Feb. 26 for snubbing a House inquiry on alleged misuse of the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF).

During the hearing of the House Committee on Public Accounts--where show-cause orders were issued against absent BARMM officials--Adiong rejected the regional officials' claim that BARMM’s autonomy exempts them from congressional oversight. 

The "Young Guns" bloc member emphasized that the power of the purse remains with Congress and does not end with the passage of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or national budget. 

“This committee has the jurisdiction to investigate and inquire on funds that are being used by our government entities, by any bureaucracy, whether it is national or regional or local,” Adiong said.

He cited Article 12, Section 13 of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which grants Congress the sole authority to provide BARMM with block grants, arguing that the same authority gives Congress the power to monitor and oversee how these funds are spent.

“The fact, Mr. Chair, that under Article 12, Section 13 of the Bangsamoro Organic Law which actually provides that the Congress has the sole power to grant Block Grants to the BARMM’s utilization would also prove that the power to grant also has the power to monitor,” Adiong added.

BARMM officials, who refused to attend the hearing, argued that the committee had no jurisdiction over the region. Adiong dismissed this notion, and asserted that the authority of Congress to conduct legislative inquiries is enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.

“The power of the purse of Congress does not end with the passage of the General Appropriations Act. It does not end there,” he said, stressing that congressional oversight extends beyond budget approval to ensuring that public funds are spent properly.

He also pointed out that the Commission on Audit (COA) has a nationwide mandate that applies to all government entities, including BARMM.

“There is only one COA in the whole of the Philippines. This is a constitutionally created commission. The powers of the COA cannot be devolved by the mere territorial jurisdiction. The function of COA is one and the same wherever you are in the Philippines,” he stated.

Furthermore, Adiong cited Article 6 of the Constitution, which grants Congress the power to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation. He emphasized that this legislative oversight function is a constitutional duty that cannot be waived or ignored.

“It is not only a responsibility: it is a mandate and authority granted to us by the Constitution,” he said.

Adiong reiterated that congressional oversight is “non-negotiable” and should not be subject to compromise.

“It is non-negotiable and it is not a subject of compromise, Mr. Chair,” he stressed.

He reckoned that the Houss probe was "also a way for this committee and the partners in BARMM to be really educated on how we can approach, in so far as the power to oversee, to monitor and to assess the utilization of public funds".

Show cause orders 

The panel, chaired by Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano, decided to issue the show cause orders to BARMM officials led by regional parliament Speaker Pangalian Balindong, a former House deputy speaker, after finding their excuse letters”not acceptable".

Also required to explain his absence was Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Ali Matabalao.

The directives were issued upon motions presented by Reps. Jonathan Keith Flores of Bukidnon and Romeo Acop of Antipolo City.

In letters to the committee, Balindong and his BARMM colleagues raised a similar argument for choosing to not appear in the committee’s first hearing on alleged LGSF irregularities in the autonomous Muslim region: that the regional parliament is already conducting an inquiry.

Flores, a committee vice chairman, said the House has the right to exercise oversight power over the use of public funds in any area in the country.

He said while committee members appreciate the initiative of the BARMM parliament to launch a probe, “it does not take away the prerogative of the House to conduct its own inquiry".