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PRESIDENT Duterte is seen as certifying as urgent the 2021 budget bill, which was snagged amid the leadership dispute in the House of Representatives, and became the subject of a war of words between President Alan. Peter Cayetano and the senators, whom he said would be to blame if the monetary measure is not approved in December.
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go raised the option of having the president certify it as urgent, to prevent a budget from being re-enacted, even as Duterte said, in a Thursday night speech, that he didn’t like being dragged into a political mess. intramural. He noted deep disappointment at how the loudspeaker battle could deteriorate so quickly.
In a surprise public address Thursday night, Duterte called on members of the House of Representatives not to let his leadership “stalemate” affect the passage of the General Appropriations Act of 2021 (GAA).
“Or you solve the problem in an impasse and approve the budget legally and constitutionally. If not, I’ll be the one to do it, ”Duterte said.
He made the statement after Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque admitted that the approval of GAA 2021 is “delayed” following House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s statement suspending the October 7 HOR plenary session. 2020 to November 16, 2020.
Cayetano made the decision to prevent his rival for the speaker’s position, Marinduque representative Lord Alan Velasco, from enforcing his shared term agreement, which will take effect on October 14, 2020.
Under his shared term agreement, which was negotiated by Duterte, Cayetano will serve as Speaker of the House for the first 15 months of the 18th Congress before Velasco replaces him for the next 21 months.
He called on both lawmakers not to drag his administration down their leadership row or he will “figure it out” for them.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque previously said that Duterte wants GAA 2021 passed before the end of the year.
He reiterated that a rebuilt budget is not an option for the president as the government’s stimulus package to address the effects of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) will depend on it.
Down, Cayetano’s war of words
On Thursday night, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he accepted the apology from Cayetano, who had said Wednesday night that if the budget bill is delayed, it will be the Senate’s fault.
He insisted that his controversial move Monday to second-reading approval of “railroads” and abruptly suspending sessions until Nov. 16 had only caused the Senate to lose “one day” on its own calendar.
However, senators said Cayetano’s tactic, widely viewed as intended to avoid an Oct. 14 vote to seal the speaker’s transfer to Marinduque’s representative, Lord Alan Velasco, had erased an entire month from his tight schedule to review and approve your budget. version after the House transmits it to you in late November.
Cayetano said: “I called Senator Sotto and asked him if it could be extended to the entire Senate to apologize because my statement was taken out of context and [appeared] that I am passing the blame to the Senate if there is a delay in the budget, “he added.
However, before Cayetano apologized, Sotto had reacted angrily “the impudence!” to Cayetano’s observation that any budget delay would be in the head of the Senate, not his.
Senator Panfilo Lacson and minority leader Franklin M. Drilon were also angered by Cayetano’s insistence that his tactic was undone in a single day on the budget calendar.
Reopen discussions
In the House, lawmakers on Thursday asked leaders to reopen and resume plenary debates on the proposed $ 4.5 trillion national budget for 2021.
The representative of Buhay Lito Atienza, the deputy leader of the minority and the representative of Bayan Muna, Carlos Zarate, and the representative of Albay, Edcel Lagman, demanded the immediate resumption of the plenary sessions.
The House closed the deliberations on the budget approving it in second reading last Tuesday. He said all the legislators’ amendments will be accepted by a small committee until November 5.
“We vehemently urge the President to immediately reopen the plenary discussion on the 2021 national budget, so that we can scrutinize and properly allocate the budget of all sectors and government agencies in accordance with the process provided for in the Constitution,” Atienza said.
He said that the Constitution entrusts Congress and, more specifically, the House of Representatives, the “power of the portfolio” that gives it the authority to filter, review and scrutinize the nation’s budget and approve the General Appropriations Act (GAA ).
But Atienza and several other lawmakers complained that they were silenced during the Zoom process, which ended with Cayetano suspending the plenary session until November 16.
For his part, Zarate said the Makabayan bloc is calling for the resumption of the abruptly ended budget deliberations so that people’s call for health, education, employment and aid can be prioritized.
“Those who try to block budget deliberations are obviously the winners, ignoring the people’s call for a national budget more in line with the current needs of the Filipino people during this time of the Covid pandemic,” the bloc said.
For his part, Lagman said that “provisions on the closure and closure of debates have been indiscriminately invoked even when the proposed budgets of many departments, offices and agencies have not been assumed.”
Minority block
The minority bloc in the House said Thursday that it will proceed with its own deliberations on the budget bill.
A joint statement signed by 19 members of the bloc said they were concerned about the impact of the current line of speakers on the budget, which is seen as crucial in the continued response to help sectors affected by the pandemic.
“Our worst fears have been fulfilled and we are forced to speak out because we believe that the termination of plenary debates on the budget is premature and inconsistent with the regular processes adopted and practiced by the House in considering a general appropriations measure. ”. added.
The bloc also said that the current leadership’s decision has effectively denied members of the Minority the right to scrutinize the budgets of government line departments as part of our duty to monitor public funds that have been and will be spent on government programs and projects. .
Disputed schedule
Cayetano had said that the leadership is considering passing the budget in the final reading when the session resumes on November 16 and transmitting it to the Senate on November 17.
Senate Minority Leader Drilon called Cayetano’s attempt to blame senators for delaying the timely passage of the $ 4.5 trillion budget bill as “unfounded,” saying, “The president’s claim does not it has absolutely no basis. ”
Lacson also challenged Cayetano’s claim for a “one-day difference” in the transmission of the budget law from the House to the Senate, to ensure its timely approval before the end of the year to avoid a reworked budget scenario.
“Between October 12 and 14, when the Senate is originally scheduled to receive the transmission of the General Appropriations Bill from the House of Representatives, and on November 17, when the President said that they will be able to transmit it to us, definitely It is not a -Difference of days as stated by spokesperson Cayetano, ”Lacson noted.
That said, Lacson added: “I just suggested to the Speaker if it is possible for him to resume his session, which is simply suspended and not postponed, before All Saints Day only to pass the House version on the third and final reading. of the budget measure and then transmit it to us “.
Lacson also reminded Cayetano that senators “would need at least a week” to go over the details of the House-approved version of the voluminous budget bill.
“I also told him (President Cayetano) that the senators, especially the vice presidents of the finance committee, need at least a week to study the version of the House and present our reports to the mother committee,” said the senator. “It will take another week for the finance committee to consolidate everything and present its committee report.”
In doing so, Lacson said that “we can begin the room discussions immediately after resuming the session on November 16, or even earlier.”
“That is the only way we can ensure the timely approval of the budget measure,” he said, stating that “we cannot afford an impasse that involves the most important piece of legislation that Congress has to pass: the national budget, which I have always considered it the lifeblood of our economy, if not our country. “
