Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday came out swinging against Senator Panfilo Lacson, saying the senator had the mistaken idea that he had a monopoly of the anti-pork barrel advocacy and that the senator should realize that the House of Representatives had the same advocacy.
READ: Senators accused of ‘rumor-mongering’ over budget
He challenged Lacson and other critics of the House to identify what they were calling “pork” in the House-approved version of the 2020 proposed national budget.
Cayetano and Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said the proposed P4.1-trillion national government budget for 2020 that had been passed by the chamber was “pork-less and free of any parked funds.”
Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte on Monday said the declaration of a ceasefire between the Senate and the House of Representatives over the alleged insertion of pork barrel for congressmen in the proposed P4.1-trillion 2020 national government budget should come from the origin of the controversy–Senator Panfilo Lacson.
Villafuerte said he believed there was no truce between the two houses of Congress on the budget issue even if the majority leaders of the two chambers”•Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez-have agreed to it.”
“No ceasefire actually happed because while Senator Migz [Zubiri] said there is one, the House of Representatives as an institution was criticized again,” he said.
Cayetano said he expected the bicameral conference committee to be contentious with regard to the programs and projects to be funded, but he expected it to be smooth when it came to ‘pork’ even as he said the House would not entertain gossip or disinformation on pork.
He was referring to the claim of Lacson that the House would allocate P1.5 billion each to deputy speakers and similar allegations on the House-approved 2020 national budget.
“I won’t respond to gossip,” Cayetano said.
Romualdez said the House approved a constitutionally-compliant budget and that it specified all the institutional amendments it did in the money measure.
He said every member of the 300-strong House participated in the budget deliberations and submitted their respective individual amendments to the budget.
“We created a small committee tasked to work on specific amendments to the budget, and that amendments to it have come from congressmen,” Romualdez said.
“The Supreme Court has prohibited pork barrel. Any post-enactment intervention, [if it has been prepared] budget [then it is changed, that is prohibited],” Romualdez said.
He lamented that the House worked hard to scrutinize and pass the budget and yet unfounded accusations would be hurled against them.
“We welcome and invite all Senate friends [if they have any doubt or question, then can see or call me]. I am sure the Office of the Speaker at [and] my office [Majority Leader Office] [is] open to any senator [if there a suspicion of] pork,” Romualdez said.
This developed as Cayetano said the House realigned P9.5 billion to augment budget of twelve agencies
The House prioritized the farmers as it proposes to augment the budget of the Department of Agriculture to procure more palay and enhance the agency’s quick response team’s ability to cope with emergency situations and calamities.
“We added P3.5 billion to allow the Department of Agriculture to buy more palay and strengthen the quick response capability of the agency to respond to emergency situations like the African Swine Fever that we have now, he said.
“The national budget is an effective tool to achieve the President’s vision to achieve a safe and comfortable life, Cayetano said.
“As an institution, we put minimal changes in the proposed budget. This is more of symbolic change to give proper direction of where the budget should be going.”
The House of Representatives has identified two sources of funds which have been realigned to augment the funding for priority programs in line with the President’s priorities. These include P3.75 billion for right-of-way payments under the Department of Public Works and Highways and P5.7 billion for the operational expenses for the Sangguniang Kabataan ang Barangay Election which will not push through next year.
Cayetano, however, asserted that they are not saying that the rest of budget will remain untouched because everyone including the executive, legislative department and the media are telling us that they have to further study the budget given the global uncertainties and developments.
READ: Palace to scrutinize budget for hidden ‘pork’
