Why Philippines Never Incurred a Government Shutdown?

Currently, the US Government shuts down. Not that the government totally stops functioning. Portion of the government services were temporarily halted until the budget is passed.

The US Government has incurred 17 shutdowns technically but the major shutdown of recent memory is during the Bill Clinton administration which lasted for 28 days, the longest shutdown.

If US Government has incurred a lot of shutdowns already, why does the Philippines never incurred a government shutdown?

According to our 1987 Constitution, Article VI,  Section 25 (7) states “If, by the end of any fiscal year, the Congress shall have failed to pass the general appropriations bill for the ensuing fiscal year, the general appropriations law for the preceding fiscal year shall be deemed reenacted and shall remain in force and effect until the general appropriations bill is passed by the Congress.”

Our constitution specifically stated that in case the Congress failed to pass the budget for the ensuing year, the preceding budget will be used. This is the reason why the Philippine Government never incurred a shutdown.

Why can’t the US do the same? The tried through a continuing resolution but did not materialize. A continuing resolution is a legislation to continue funding the federal government at pre-approved levels until a new budget is enacted.

The Senate controlled by Democrats wants a “clean” continuing resolution which means that the previous budget will be used without any strings attached. On the other hand, the House of Representative controlled by Republicans wants a continuing resolution but with provisions to delay the Obamacare and repeal the tax on medical devices.

The US Senate and House of Representative cannot agree on the continuing resolutions, hence the shutdown.

The Philippines government does not need a continuing resolution in case our Congress failed to pass the national budget. The preceding budget will be used automatically. Conversely, the US needs a continuing resolution.

http://budgetngbayan.com/summary-of-allocations/#

Sources: www.policymic.com, www.gov.ph