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The day after President Duterte himself, visibly frustrated, called the House of Representatives over the budget mess and warned that he would be forced to intervene if the 2021 monetary measure derails due to politicking,
Spokesperson Alan Peter Cayetano said he welcomed Duterte’s call for a special session to pass the P4.5 billion general appropriations bill.
In a statement Friday, President Alan Peter Cayetano said lawmakers rely on wisdom on how to address budget-related issues.
“As we commit our nation and the People’s Budget 2021 to the Almighty, we welcome President Duterte’s call for a Special Session of Congress on October 13-16,” he said.
The Senate, which was previously dismayed by the House leadership’s decision to suddenly suspend sessions until Nov. 16 after abruptly voting on the second reading of the budget bill, is actually holding sessions until Oct. 17, according to your approved calendar.
On Thursday, Cayetano was forced to apologize to the president of the Senate, Vicente Sotto III, after saying that if the budget bill was delayed, it would be the fault of the Senate, not the House, although it was the sudden suspension of sessions. of the House what delayed. the transmission of the budget bill and cost the senators “a month” as the House is on break at a time when it should be finishing the bill. An angry Sotto had reacted to Cayetano’s passage with these words: “The nerve.” However, he later accepted Cayetano’s apology and called for a ceasefire to protect the budget bill from politics.
On Friday Cayetano said: “We thank you [Duterte] for their continued confidence in allowing Congress to pass the General Appropriations Bill free from the specter of politicking and intrigue that we had originally tried to avoid, ”said Cayetano.
President Duterte has said he was issuing the proclamation “to avoid further delays in the early approval” of the GAB.
The proclamation was issued a day after the president told members of Congress to solve the problems that threatened to delay the budget.
“If you don’t solve the problem, I will solve it for you,” the president said.
Cayetano said that between now and October 13, Congress “will continue to work and prepare for the speedy approval of this measure, and to ensure that it will be responsive and relevant to the government’s overall recovery efforts by 2021.”
Last Tuesday, the Lower House closed the deliberations of the plenary session, approved the budget bill in second reading and suspended the session until November 16.
Resumption is urged
Meanwhile, Marinduque representative Lord Allan Velasco said that a resolution signed by several legislators calling for the resumption of the session will soon be presented.
“I join the collective call of my fellow legislators in the Senate and in the House of Representatives for the resumption of plenary sessions in Congress so that we can fulfill our sacred constitutional mandate to approve the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2021”, He said.
According to Velasco, the premature end of the budget deliberations has raised the alarm signal from both houses of Congress, economic managers and the business community.
“The hasty approval of the Duterte Administration’s spending plan at second reading without observing the full budget process and the abrupt suspension of House sessions jeopardized the enactment of vital measures, particularly the 2021 budget, the legislative piece most important thing that we pass each year, ”he said.
‘Cheated’?
Meanwhile, Velasco said President Duterte was furious because he felt they had been “duped” when Cayetano took steps to keep his post despite a shared term agreement.
Velasco said on Friday after the president, in a surprise television speech late Thursday, called on members of the House of Representatives not to allow his leadership “impasse” to affect the approval of the national budget of P4.5 trillion. by 2021.
Velasco said the president was visibly enraged when they met privately on October 5, or five days after Cayetano offered to resign as president, and the majority allegedly rejected his resignation.
“I can see the anger of the president. The president said to me, ‘Sir, you’re not the only one who is ashamed of this, we are both [I could see the President’s anger. He said, Lord, it’s not just you who suffered an embarrassment here, but both of us]. Actually, the president used the word nadenggoySaid, ‘Lord, we both heard[we were both fooled]”Velasco said in an interview with ANC Headstart.
“Sabi niya kay Speaker Cayetano, ‘Alan, ok na. October 14, you will resign. He will announce that on October 14 he resigns because he complies with the gentlemen’s agreement. After that, they shook hands, ”Velasco recalls, partly in Filipino.
