ffiurdget battle
waged at Bicam
By llanan$ol Bordey
The actual bati,le over ihe p4.i i,rillion
2020 budget will happen u01 dulirg the
plerrarl sessio s 0l tlrF S..I te, bul :ll {lle
Bicamerrl Cunl',relL|e Currtnrir r ee (Bi,.atn.;
rhu will seek to rl.colcile rhe relsiutrs oI
General Appropliations Bill (GAB) arnong
represental,ives of the lwo chambers of
Congleso,
1'he Hbuse of Il e pr es entatives hacl
passed its versi0n 0f ihe budget lasi 20
Eudget battle waged at Bicam
f! 19 na-ra !o question what congess did but it can be questioned before the.:court
if they believe that what happeied was not;r.gui;,
W.*nt '
floors, but the Senate will forego
it to speed up the process.
"It is to question what
hard
Congress did, but it can be
questioned before the court if
'they betieve that what happened
was not a regular process.',
Angara said.
'But if we would do that, we
cannot pass the budgei on time.
So, the larger interest prevails. In
the reenacted budget this 2019,
we saw that economic Arowth
suffered. Our development was
limited," he explained. ,
Angara reiterated his
assurance that the government
will pass the 2020 national
budget by the end.of December,
0n the other hand, the House
of Representatives has fired
shots against Senate Minoritv
Leader trYanklin Drilon and Sen
Panfilo Lacson, tagging them
as uobstructionist, who intend
to uderail"
President Rodripo
Duterte's program.
Another friction is brewing
in both
chambers as Denutv
Speaker IIenry 0arninat said tne
senators had questioned the GAB
pass0d by the Horise even before
they have yet to see the, actuai
document.
*Hence,
they should refrain
fro m making premature
state+ents that tend to put us
in a bad light. How can they
conclude that the budget biil
contains questionable provisions
when they haven't even seen a
copy of the document?, 0aminal
said.
September and this will be
transmitted today to the Senate.
Anothel delay in the passage
of thc latio[al bud{et is wha1,
both chambers wanted to avoicl,
according to Finance Committee
chairman Sonny Angara.
If lawmakers believe there afe
irregulurities in [he budget.process, it
cuuld aLu be quesrioncd in c0ut,t aside
from challenging these in the chamber,s
furn to page
Deputy Speaker pablo John
Garcia defended the creation
of the small committees in the
House explaining that it was
an old practice since the gth
Congress.
Have courtesy
Garcia said Albay Rep. Joey
Salceda "ha.d explained that the
small committee was a decision
reached during the plenpry and
was done for practidal putrposes
since not all 299 members ofthe
House can sit down and finalize
the amendments',
"We citt on our fellow
lawmakers to observe
interparliamentary courtesv and
refrain from coming out with
premature, baseless allegations.
We appeal to them io wait for us
to do ourjobs first," Garcia said.
Another deputy sp eaker.
Iiocos Sur Rep. Deogracias Victor
Savellano, hit Drilon for his
crusade against the pork barrel.
recalling the senator,s ,,benefiti
from the Priority Development
Assistance Fund in the previous
administration.
He said thai Drilon faced a
complaint before the Office of
the ombudsman in connection
with the construction of the Iloilo
Convention Center, which was
lpartly funded by the senator,s
P200 million PDAtr or pork barrel
in 2013."
Savellano also lambasted
Lacson for seeking,,pogi
points" by hitting the House
of Representatives and using
*baseless
allegations ,in aid oi
&is election."'
Monday, 30 September 201 9
Daily Tribune
42
d;;;r,
"lt would be better for the
good senator to find a valid
issue or eoncern that is backed
by solid evidence. Don,t use the
Ilouse to carry out your personal
agenda. Let's just work together
so that Congress can be an
effective partner of the president
in implementing his reform
initiatives," Savellano said.
:
Correct process
uAs
a general rule, there is a
process that we should follow...
The contingents ofthe I{ouse and
the Senate should talk because.
usually, they have differeni
amendments. In the issue of
pork, it should be compliant with
the Constitution and generally,
lawmakers do not approve large
lump sums and post-enactment.n
Angara explained.
The senator indicated the
Senate has yet to scrutinize and
look into the House version of
the GAB. Recenfly, the House
fast-tracked the passage of the
expenditure plan by skipping the
tedious period of amendments
where congressmen *ould b"
able io insert or objecfto budget
realignments.
Instead, the House created a
small committee, which includes
m4jority and minority members,
to considef all the amendmenti
sought by other members of the
chamber.
Angara stressed that a battle r
lt
o"". ir,. r,uJe"i"r;i;;i;i; "
as a result of a Supreme Court TP.otT
ruling oli what constituted pork
barrel that it outlawed in a Z0tg PAGg
decision. -