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Rep. LRay Villafuerte. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Former Vice President Luis Raymund Villafuterte on Friday challenged President Lord Allan Velasco to present to the public the final version of the proposed 2021 budget approved by the House prior to approval by the bicameral conference committee to ensure there is no illegal insertions. Of funds.
Villafuerte made the comment when senators expressed fear that post-approval amendments could be made to the proposed 2021 national budget if the House does not immediately submit the hard copy of the measure to the Senate.
The former vice president echoed these senators’ concerns, saying that the delay in transmission to the Senate could lead to last-minute illegal insertions.
“We must remain vigilant and make Velasco fulfill its stated commitment to ensure that there will be no redistribution of funds under the 2021 budget approved by the House,” Villafuerte said in a statement.
Villafuerte also cited reports claiming that former Representative Rolando Andaya has been actively participating in budget deliberations.
“If you remember, it was Andaya who was the architect of the insertions of the post-bicameral committee in the 2019 budget, which is why the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) at that time suffered numerous delays and ultimately resulted in the implementation of a new budget at the beginning of 2019 and the subsequent veto of the president to certain parts of the 2019 budget for being illegal insertions, “said Villafuerte.
The former vice president also claimed that Andaya has been attending deliberations on the proposed 2021 budget and has even been “dictating” on the House appropriations chairman Rep. Eric Yap.
“This is the same formula for the disaster that occurred during the bicameral committee’s deliberations on the 2019 budget. The Chamber, under then-President Gloria Arroyo, realigned around P75 billion in funding for projects that were ultimately vetoed by the President. ”Said Villafuerte.
“We suspect that they are moving forward with these last minute illegal insertions because we have received reports that they are now talking to contractors to find out what projects can be implemented in the Solons districts favored by Velasco,” he added.
INQUIRER.net is communicating with the camps involved in the matter as of this publication.
During the plenary session on Thursday, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he received information that the lower house allegedly plans to present to the Senate a hard copy of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) approved by the House more than two weeks after approval. in third reading.
Both Senator Panfilo Lacson and minority leader Franklin Drilon were alarmed by this.
“If they [House] It will go on to the third reading tomorrow, I can’t understand why they would send the GAB to us on Nov 5th. Unless I can flat naman silang mag- [they have a plan to amend] after the third reading, ”Lacson said.
Meanwhile, Drilon said: “They will approve it on the third reading in the register and then in the printing process they will accept amendments from individual members. That is why they cannot present a copy when they vote on it, because they will amend it, ”Drilon said.
On Thursday night, Sotto said Velasco has “promised” that the House will do everything possible to transmit the 2021 budget bill passed by the House to the Senate by the end of October.
JPV
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