House to insist
on budget version
By JESS DIAZ
There seems to be no
end yet to the budget
imDasse. The House ot
Reiresentatives will in-
sisi on its version of the
oroposed 2019 budget
i" #ll.tt at least P99 bil-
lion in lumP surns it had
aereed $'ith the Senate
i,i F"b..,u* have been
"itemized" br suPPorted
it'ith a listing of Proiects.
-'wa will insist on
no lump sum because
that is whai is uncon-
stitutional. That's what
'rr-e will insist, no lump
surn," Speaker Gloria
\Iacapagal-Arroyo told
reporters yesterday.
"If we don't come to
an agreement and thbn
(Senaie president) Tito
(Vicente) Sotto does not
sign the bill, then there's
no bill to send to the President So I do not know if
'
rlill(agree) but I would wish we would, 'lre said
r.. e
.L
l.rov5 clarrfied that the Hou'e has not u'ilh-
dran-n the printed copy o[ iLs ver.ion of
the budget it sent to lhe Senate {or Sotto's
signafure, and eventually for trans m i
to Presidenl Duterte.
"No, we have not withdranm our ver-
sion. We're in discussions about what
is the proposed new yersion...as to the
details, that's the or-re that we'll see," she
said.
She said she was plalning to meet later
with San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and
other congressmen on what they would
do to finally break their impasse with
senators on the budget.
Ifthe House insists onitsversion of the
2019 spendingbilf then the two chambers
are deadlocked again.
Such scenario loomed as Camarines Sur
Rep. Luis Raymund Villa{uerte accused
the House leadership of committing an
"unconstitutional abomination in realign-
ing to the districts of favored members at
least P92 billion worth of public works and
health frinds originally earmarked for over
80 other legislative districts."
'The damage has been done. They have
held the proposed 2019 budget hostage to
their insatiable greed in realigning to fa-
vored legislative districts some P72 billion
in funds of the Departrnent of Public Works
and Highwal.s orighally allocated for other
\\ FP.od'r pAGd'l
THE PHILIPPINE STAR
news wEoresorv-!-Y4xcr 19'291e
districfs.-The Horlse leadership also iJad- ,
ded the district allocations of these favorite ,
leeislators with another P20 billion in tund.
dm rhe Departrnent of Healrh," he caid.
ln >o doing, Villatuerte said his cham-
ber's leaders-"have put in jeopardv this
year's implernentation of President
Duterte's priority programs to attack
poverty and booct ecortomic expansion
lo above <even percent."
Sotto and anti-pork barrel Sen. Panfilo
Lacson have said at least 62 House mem-
bers have complained to them of losing
tens of billions in infrastrrrcture funds to
favored congressmen.
Sotto specifically mentioned Raul Daza
of Northem Samar and Aurora Cerilles
trf Zamboanga del Sur, his partymate in
Nationalist Peopie's Coalilion, as among
lhe complainants.
No new Yersion
The Senate has rejected the House-print
ed budget. which is whv il h,:q been urging
congreq\men Lo recdil ii. l{ in not Pr,)Posing
a "new version."
What the Senate winnts the House to do is
to send tlre version contained in the bicam-
eral-eonJeterrce committee report the two
chambers ratified on Feb. 8 before adjoum-
irg lor the *uee-month election campaign.
5sion That rcport contained lump sums, \,\'hictr
according to appropriations committee
chairman Rolando Andaya Jr., came up to
P99 billion and which Andaya and Arroyo
claim are unconstitutional.
Arroyo's statements came a day after
she authorized Zarnora to talk to senators
on how the two chambers could break their
deadlock on dre brdget.
On Mondal-,6olto and lacson said
Zam,rra re)ayei to them Lhe me55agc drat
the House teadership has agreed to r'vith-
draw its version of the proposed budget
and to transmit the spending bill contained
ir the bicam report ratified on Feb. 8.
"We u'ill wait for that action (withdrar,r-
hg the budget senL to tlre Senate) and if il i5
suhmitled to us as ratificd. J will imrnedi-
alcly sign it and concider it an eruolled bill
and scnd iL to the President tor signature,"
Sotto said.
The Speaker apparently chose Zamora as
negotiator because the San Juan congress-
man and his brother Manuel supported
Lacson when he ran for president in 2004
against then incumbent president Arroyo.
Andaya is prctesting the alleged decision
Nr1r PAA{I Pt* '.+
(t)
House to insist rrom ease r
to withdraw the House version.
He said no single House member could
do thal and t}at1t's only the chamber in
plenarv session that could order the recall
bf is v'ecion of the proposed budget.
He said like the HoGe, the Senate did a
post+icam report itemizationof proiects to
iuooort its share of lumP sums.
'Sotto had c,luimed senators did not touch
anl4hirg in the proposed budget after the
Feb. 8 ratification.
As another budget deadlock looms,
House members have called on Sotto and
Lacson to stop acting like lawyers when
evm a Senate officia] has acknowledged
there is "nothing unconstihrtjonal" about
detailed budsedng of potk barrel alloca-
tiors- The oinciai wai Yolanda Dublon,
director seneral of the Senate's Legislative
Budget {esearch and Management Office
(LBMRO).
'3oth Senators Sotto and Lacson are
now mnfus6d with their roles. They have
stopped acting aslegislators and nowwart
to assume thdrole of lawyers for the Sen-
ate," Coop-Natcco party-list Rep Anthony
Bravo, a deputy minority leadei said
iloffiang ilbgal
Unlike the Senate contingent that attend-
ed the meeting called by President Duterte
to break the Eudeet impasse, the House
was represented 5y foui lawyers - Reps'
Zamori, Andaya, Majority Leader Fredenil
Castro and RodanG Marcoleta.
'"Thev have to show me where it is il-
Iesal." Zamora said.
""Lrmp soms tealJy have io be itemized,
because the Supreme Court had ruled you
cannot pass abudget with lump sums,"
Zamora said in FiliPino.
"You have toitemize and the appropria-
tions leadership in the House says that is
-the
itemization. If Senate says that is not
iternization they should come up with spe-
cifics," he maintained.
Some House members, meanwhilg have
taken a stand in defense of Sotto and Lacson.
"The chairman of the House appropria-
tions committee has virhrally usurped the
powers of the entire Congress, Lnduding
ihe Senare, by introddcing on his own
post-ratification changes to the budget,"
u congresstnan who requested anonlmilv
said referrine to AndaYa.
'1Ve already have a manifeslo support-
ine Presidmt buterte's and Sotto's rcsolve
to"reiect the budget bill loaded with illegal
last-minute irsertions," said a congressman
belonsins to the PDP-Laban party. He
dediried io be named for fear of "venge{r:l
funding cutbacks.;' -n-
\ wodT F Q€x
l<)
'We have no ihoice but to sPeak otif
the higtrly anomalous eleventh-
f.""". **tio* io tie ratified budget, which
"nulnsL
arc bound to heighten the hazard of costly
shost; ptoiects,; the congressman who
hlals from tr,llndan ao, wamed.
"From what we've gathered so far, at
least two portions o{ tie ratified budgei
- inuof"ini funding allocations {or public
works oroiects and-healrh facilities - were
raded ind subiected to arbitrary changes"'
the source revealed.
'The allocations meant for several dis-
tricts were either scrapped or reduced' and
it-ren the fu"as were transferred to other
districts," the Iegislator added'
--ih".on*t".t-an warned that the
rrromulorrs iidistribution of Health Fa-
eilities Enhancement Program allocations
in oarticular has increased the likelihood
o{ iutr.re "ghosfl' or non-eistent barangay
health stati"ons, among other proiects'
"-ifr"
Hntp coveri spending for the
construction, completion and equipping
of barangay health stations, among other
health-relaied inlrastructur€ spending
"Last yer, no less than Health Seoe-
tary Francisco Duque IIT exposed brazen
in the construction of 5,700 ba-
ransav healih stations worth t8 1 billioru
"t'r6maties
ttre"cdntract for which was sealed during
*.e prel iorrs Aquino administration," the
congrcssman Pointed out.
- .. -'Geftin€ confused'
AdisaDDointed Sottq meanwhile, asked
rhe Houie to Dut its aJfairs in order and
make up its mind if it rcally wants to have
the probosed P3.7-trillion hational budget
for 2019 enacted into law.
'"We're eettinq confused. What gives? So
we will ius"t wai ifor them to make up their
minds otherwise, we can wait until June
30." Sotto told rePorters.
''"We
reallv donit know whatis the inten-
tioo rhe ddsion of tlre House leadership,
what thev want to do," he said
He surmised the House leadership is
havins some problems based on what
some {T npathetic congressmen have been
tellins him.
He"said tlae Senate rcmains steadfast in
its oosition that it will not ag1ee to anlthing
lesl than the House resubmitting the Cen-
eral Appropri ations Bill as originalll' ratified
-' Congress last month. is looking at other
bv
Thu B"nrtu, he said,
ootions in case the House reneges on its
c6mmitrnent to withdraw the enroiled ver-
sion it had previously sent to the charnber'
'"We cannot asre6 to something that is
rriolative of Artici"e 170 of the Revised Penal
Code, which is falsification of legislative
documents. Il's as simple as that"'Sotto
said. referrins to the amendments made by
tl,e ifouse to"the GAB after it was ratified -
With Delon Porcalla, Paolo Romero