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Friday, March 29, 2024

House insists: No lump sum

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Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday said the House of Representatives has not withdrawn its version of the 2019 budget, reiterating that the lump sum appropriations favored by senators are unconstitutional.

“No, we have not withdrawn our version. We’re in discussions about what is the proposed new version,” Arroyo said on the sidelines of the Nickel Initiative 2019 Forum of the Philippine Nickel Association at the BGC in Taguig City.

The former president said she will meet with San Juan City Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and other House members later in the day to discuss the issue.

Zamora was tasked by the House to negotiate with the Senate to break the budget impasse that has forced the government to operate under a reenacted budget for three months now.

Arroyo, meanwhile, said that the House will stand its ground on itemizing the lump sum items in the budget since the Supreme Court has already ruled against lump sum allocations.

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“We will insist on no lump sum because that [lump sums] is what is unconstitutional. That’s what we will insist, no lump sum.

“If we don’t come to an agreement and then [Senate President] Tito Sotto does not sign the bill, then there’s no bill to send to the President. So I do not know if we will but I would wish we would,” Arroyo said.

Earlier, Senator Panfilo Lacson claimed that the House, through Zamora, has agreed to withdraw their version of the 2019 appropriations measure that they submitted to the Senate.

This was immediately rebutted by Arroyo and other House members.

Arroyo maintained that the House submitted a legal and valid national budget, noting that the House leadership would not allow President Rodrigo Duterte to sign into law an appropriation measure that is unconstitutional.

On Monday, Zamora said the House did not give in to Lacson’s demands, but “delivered a sign of good faith” so that both sides could continue discussing the budget.

Lacson took to Twitter to express his disappointment at the House refusal to withdraw its latest version of the budget Monday night.

“Just when the stalemate between the Senate and the House is about to end, there is now a budget impasse within the House,” Lacson wrote on Twitter.

While Zamora had confirmed that they would take back the latest version of the budget that had been submitted to the Senate, the day ended without such a recall.

“They should first break the budget impasse within their own house. [In the] meantime, the Senate will just wait,” Lacson said in a text message.

The Senate and the House already ratified the budget bill on Feb. 8 but the House made last-minute changes by itemizing lump sum allocations.

The Senate said altering the budget after it was ratified by the bicameral conference committee was unconstitutional.

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