THE House of Representatives on Monday rejected Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno’s bid to postpone indefinitely the Question Hour at which he was to be grilled on alleged “insertions” in the P3.757-trillion budget for 2019. This, as a ranking House leader exposed alleged“Executive pork barrel” in the simmering word war between the two chambers of Congress and between the Legislative and Executive branches.
Majority Leader Rolando G. Andaya Jr. said the Question Hour will proceed as scheduled on Tuesday.
Amid insertions issues hounding the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA), Andaya of Camarines Sur exposed alleged irregularities in the awarding of the flood-control projects in the 2018 national budget.
In a privilege speech, Andaya bared alleged corrupt practices involving billions of pesos in infrastructure spending, which include flood-control projects in congressional districts, particularly in Catanduanes and Sorsogon.
Andaya said these two districts do not have any need for flood-control projects.
“I understand that a lot of members have the same experience. Maybe it’s about time some of you stand up for us to retake the power of the purse. We have been misunderstood and misaligned all these years. We have actually managed to decrease our influence over the budget. Now, with me coming out and showing you hard proof of what you know what has been done to you, maybe it’s about time, we all as one voice, stand up and expose this sham,” Andaya said.
He said the two congressional districts—belonging to Sorsogon Rep. Deogracias B. Ramos Jr. and Catanduanes Rep. Cesar V. Sarmiento—received P2 billion and P500 million, respectively, in additional infrastructure funding.
“In the second district of Sorsogon, nearly P2 billion in flood-control funds poured in, even though it was not needed and the congressman and constituents were not aware of it. In Catanduanes, for this current year, the flood-control fund for the district of Cong. Sarmiento got an additional P500 million even though he had no knowledge of it; but we passed it because we were told it was proposed by the Executive and we should not touch it. That’s forbidden, they said,” Andaya revealed, in a mix of English and Filipino.
“And yet when I spoke to the President, he said, ‘just do your job, do what you must do. If you think something must be stricken off, then delete it’,” Andaya added, quoting President Duterte.
Also, Andaya said 30 infrastructure contracts were won alone by CT Leoncio Construction and Trading Co. in Bulacan.
He said the lawmakers may have failed to see projects during the first two years of the administration, which submitted flood control budgets that were P50 billion apart.
In 2017, a P73-billion budget was allotted for flood control, and the figure increased by P50 billion or 68 percent in 2018.
Denying Lacson claim
In his speech, Andaya also denied Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson Sr.’s accusation that only allies received big allocations for their districts.
“[Lacson may have referred to] allies from the previous [Pantaleon Alvarez] leadership and not from the current leadership,” he said.
Andaya noted that Arroyo was elected Speaker after the Executive department had already completed the 2019 budget proposal.
“Let us all remember that when the NEP, or the budget, was submitted to us, it was done under the previous leadership of the House. So logic dictates that the large allocations per district would be from the allies of the previous leadership and not from the present leadership,” he said.
No slowdown
Andaya, meanwhile, allayed fears of an economic slowdown should Congress fail to pass the 2019 national budget on time.
He shot down the notion, as peddled by Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, that a reenacted budget will result in an economic slowdown, specifically in the first and second quarter of 2019.
“That’s a lot of hot air coming from his rear end. That is not true. Any person who believes that does not know his history. First of all, during his [Diokno’s] tenure as Secretary of Budget in the year 2000, the budget was passed on February. Did the sky fall down? Did the country collapse? I don’t think so. We are still here,” Andaya said.
Equal
Amid issues on insertions, Arroyo has instructed the House Committee on Appropriations to give members of the lower chamber an equal funding in the 2019 national budget, Andaya said.
In a radio interview, Andaya said the leadership also directed the appropriations panel to refrain from making insertions.
“The instruction [of the Speaker] was to give equal funding. I remember that the terminology used was ‘bare minimum,’” he said.
“I even urged the appropriations panel to refrain from making insertions in the budget without notifying the Senate but, they did not heed my advice,” he added.
Andaya also denied the claims of Lacson that Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ensured additional funds for her Pampanga district.
Based on the NEP, the district of Pampanga already had a big allocation which is the original budget proposal of Arroyo.
However, Andaya said the lower chamber will still assist the Senate in analyzing the 2019 budget to resolve the issues of insertions.
Question Hour
Andaya said the lower chamber finds it imperative to hold on Tuesday as scheduled the
Question Hour due to the urgency of the members’ queries on the current year’s expenditures and the 2019 national budget.
“We stand firm in our intention to hold the Question Hour as scheduled and look forward to your appearance,” Andaya told Diokno in a letter.
For his part, Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, who filed the resolution calling for the Question Hour, warned that they will draft a committee report recommending the replacement of Diokno if the budget secretary will not attend the question hour.
In a separate press conference, Suarez revealed that a witness, whom he did not name, will appear in the plenary to shed light on issues hounding the 2019 budget.
“That’s beyond me if he doesn’t attend the Question Hour. There will be plenty of congressmen…. If he doesn’t show up I will give my piece, majority leader would also give his, and so on…and the witness would have to come here and I will ask him in the plenary to come up with a statement,” Suarez said.
Last week, the chamber adopted House Resolution 2307, filed by Suarez, requiring Diokno’s appearance and participation in the Question Hour.
Diokno wrote the House leadership on December 10 seeking to postpone the Question Hour due to the number of questions proposed by lawmakers, and to give him time to get the necessary data and information to respond to these.
Diokno clarified the DBM supports the initiative to provide clarifications on concerns surrounding the FY 2019 budget and other relevant matters.
“Nevertheless, in view of the number of questions proposed, as well as the data and information required, the undersigned respectfully requests that the question hour be rescheduled to a later date,” Diokno said.
As practiced by previous Congresses, the Question Hour is known to be a period of confrontation initiated by the Legislative to hold the Executive department, particularly Cabinet secretaries, accountable for their acts and the operation of the government.
This is the first time that Congress, under the leadership of Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, will hold a Question Hour.