The head of the House of Representatives’ appropriations committee on Tuesday challenged Senate President Vicente Sotto III to name the senators behind the budget cuts and identify the projects where they had realigned funds in the 2019 General Appropriations Bill.
Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. made the statement after Sotto called him “delusional” for accusing the Senate of “sabotaging” the programs of the Duterte administration in light of what Andaya had described as “drastic” budget cuts.
“Delusional. Obfuscate. The Senate President has resorted to name-calling and language engineering in a bid to divert public attention from the drastic budget cuts imposed by the Senate on the President’s major infrastructure projects and social programs,” Andaya said in a statement.
“But the Senate President need not consult the dictionary in search of more pompous words. All he has to do is explain to the public why the Senate slashed the budget not only of the Build, Build, Build projects but also of the pension for uniformed personnel and the retirement benefits of government employees. Now is also the time for him to reveal the names of all senators who made budget cuts and show the items where these were realigned.”
Andaya earlier slammed the Senate’s “unilateral” decision to cut about P83.7 billion for priority projects, including those under the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure plan.
Instead of resorting to name-calling, Andaya said, the Senate must exercise transparency by identifying the senators who would wish to hamper the Duterte administration’s infrastructure and other socio-economic projects.
“In the spirit of transparency we are furnishing the public with photocopies of original documents showing the extent of the budget cuts imposed by the Senate on the 2019 General Appropriations Bill,” Andaya said.