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Some lawmakers criticized President Alan Peter Cayetano for his “authoritarian” leadership and his failure to abide by the rules after the House of Representatives abruptly passed the 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on second reading.
Cayetano then suspended the sessions until November.
The representative of the second district of the city of Cebu, Rodrigo Abellanosa, said that Cayetano again showed his “autocratic style of management” when he and his allies ended the budget deliberations “unilaterally”, they approved the GAB in second reading despite the pending issues and suspended the plenary session before October. 16 as indicated in the legislative calendar.
“Some legislators asked about the huge budget assigned to President Cayetano and his close allies, but instead of answering, the president decided to change the budget, compose a group of friends to amend it and suspend the session to have an early break and to hold on to the power, ”he said.
Abellanosa condemned the paltry allocations for two districts of Cebu City, while “Cayetano and his close allies are wallowing in tens of billions” of funds from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
He said that Cayetano violated Section 55 of the House Rules, which states that “a motion to close the debate on a measure will be in order after three speeches in favor and two against, or after a single speech in favor and none against: provided that within the last 15 days before the adjournment, a motion to close the debate on a measure will be in order after two speeches in favor and one against, or after a single speech in favor and none in against ”.
The representative of the first district of Albay, Edcel Lagman, also criticized the “excessive railroad” that sacrificed budget scrutiny “to the altar of the ongoing dispute of the leaders of the House.” He also disapproved of the early suspension of the session without the prior consent of the Senate, which he said violates Section 16 (5) of Article 6 of the Constitution.
Lagman noted that the budgets for 14 major agencies have yet to be deliberated or completed. These include the DPWH and the Departments of Health, Education, Tourism, Social Welfare, Agrarian Reform, Transportation, Foreign Relations, Interior, and Local Government, among others.
“There is an urgent need for Ca-yetano to reconsider its hasty motions to finish budget procedures and pass the GAB at second reading, and resume sessions immediately,” he said.
The representative of Buhay’s party list, José “Lito” Atienza, also believes that the process violated the House Rules and the Constitution. He said legislators who wanted to challenge did not have the opportunity to do so.
“He illegally postponed it. Not even a question was asked, no debate was allowed, there was not even a vote. Hindi botohan ‘yun (That was not a vote), ”he said.
Atienza also said that House Rules do not provide for the creation of small committees that would handle the amendments.
“He is making up his own rules in the middle of the game again retreating from panic by firing double-barreled illegal action guns. A special group that decides for the body? What are we saying here? That Congress can be manipulated by two or three people or a group of people appointed by the Speaker? Hindi pwede ‘yan (That is unacceptable). You violated the rule, Mr. President, and we neither respect nor honor the breaking of the rule, ”he said.
The representative of the Pacman party list, Eric Pineda, also denounced the “irregularities” in the approval of the GAB.
“It was irregular to approve the budget without being fully heard. Even the President declared in his speech that we cannot pass the budget as proposed. However, due to the latter’s unilateral actions and with the help of his close allies, the other members of Congress have been robbed of the opportunity to scrutinize the national budget bill, ”Pineda said.
Quezon Fourth District Representative Angelina Tan said the abrupt approval drowned out the voices of House members.
“The time they give us is small. Actually, it only takes 3 minutes to question, the opportunity is gone. We, on the other hand, are very supportive of the speedy approval of our budget. Nobody wants to delay the budget (we only had 3 minutes to question and that was denied. We support the rapid approval of the budget, nobody wants it to be delayed) “, he said in an interview with the ANC.
‘No violations’
Vice President Neptali Gonzales 2nd denied there were any violations in the GAB approval process.
“We have been deliberating on the GAB for more than a week, and several members have spoken in favor and more than two members have spoken against. Thus, procedurally, article 55 can be invoked, since in fact it came into play, “he said at a virtual press conference.
Gonzales defended the early suspension of sessions, saying it was the “prerogative” of the House.
Meanwhile, Cayetano assured that the final approval of the budget will not be delayed.
“We will be working; We won’t take a break And on November 16 we will vote in third reading. Before that, meron nang consent nung mga majority ng kongresista dahil ipapakita ko sa kanila isa-isa at ‘yung budget (there would be consent from the majority of the congressmen because I will show the budget to each one of them) “, he said in a message video on Facebook.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Management Association (MAP) lamented the “sad situation” in the Chamber.
“We hope that the suspension will not delay the approval of the 2021 budget, which is even more critical now given the need to mitigate the impact of the current crisis,” said Francis Lim, president of MAP.
“The situation reminds us of the 2019 national budget, whose promulgation was delayed due to the impasse between the Senate and the House of Representatives. As a result, our GDP grew only 5.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019, much lower than the growth of 6.5 percent recorded during the same period of 2018, ”he added.
“Let us keep our fingers crossed so that this sad situation does not repeat itself, otherwise our country’s economic recovery from the pandemic will be delayed and further harm our people,” Lim said.
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