The Never Ending Democratization of the Philippines 127 a political question and should be decided by the Congress itself. If Congress does not agree with this decree, then it could repeal or revise it by crafting a revised statute (Pimentel v. Carague et. al. G.R. No. 94571 April 21, 1991) Members of both chambers of Congress had filed bills seeking to repeal the automatic appropriation for the payment of foreign debts. In the previous Congress, Senators Pia Cayetano and Trillanes filed bills to repeal the automatic appropriation. In the current 15th Congress, several house bills have been submitted to the Committee on Appropriations for the purpose of restoring to Congress the power to appropriate for the payment of the country's foreign debts. Congressmen Casino, Ejercito, and Palatino have filed bills to repeal or revise the Decree. Even in the past Congresses, bills and resolutions were also submitted in the Senate. But these legislative proposals did not prosper. It is evident that these proposals were not supported by the majority coalition in both chambers of Congress. It is also evident these proposals had not been endorsed by the President and certified as urgent.The initiatives to reform public finance have not gained the support of legislators belonging to the majority coalition probably because of patronage politics. The release of “pork barrel” is at the sole discretion of the President. If the legislators cross the President on this matter, they risk losing their “development fund” and the prospect of reelection. The chief executive could not part with his power over the budget because it is instrumental in keeping the legislative coalition behind him. The transactional politics between the President and legislators of the majority coalition is a major obstacle to democratizing public finance. The democratization of public finance could be aided by the revision of Republic Act 7640—An Act Constituting the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC). The Council should be strengthened in terms of more meaningful interaction between the executive and legislative branches by way of providing all members of the House of Representatives and the Senate quarterly expenditure programs of the different departments under the President. This could be accomplished through the creation of a subcommittee on budget (Rule VII, Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 7640). The minority in Congress should be represented in this subcommittee. The subcommittee should have access to all information about budget preparation and particularly execution. This should make the members of Congress current about the budget priorities, releases, line-item veto, realignments, and savings. A senior leader of the current Congress sees the importance of achieving transparency through access to information about budget execution. Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada recently