Only President can bar Diokno from attending House probe — Palace

MANILA, Philippines —There’s only one official that can bar Budget Secretary Ben Diokno from attending the House of Representatives’ probe on alleged “pork insertions” in the 2019 national budget — that’s the President.

Malacañang said this on Tuesday when asked to clarify who disallowed Diokno from appearing in the Congressional probe on the alleged anomalies in the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget.

“There’s only one who can make him not go there, (and) it’s the President. So presumably it’s coming from the President,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

Panelo said the Executive Branch is fearing that Diokno “might be again given the same rude treatment” accorded to him when he appeared on Congress’ Question Hour.

Last week, Diokno was called by the House of Representatives for a “Question Hour” during which he was grilled regarding the alleged insertions in the proposed 2019 national budget as well as his involvement with the supposed favoring of contractors.

The House plans to summon Diokno again in its hearing on January 3 next year in connection with the “favored” contractors and the P75 billon alleged “insertion” he supposedly made in the 2019 budget.

On Monday, Diokno said he was “not allowed to attend” the House’s probe. However, he did not disclose where the instruction came from.

“Because what do they want from me? To say that I don’t know these people? Then I’ll just issue an affidavit. I don’t know these people,” he said.

READ: Diokno ‘not allowed’ to attend House probe on ‘pork insertions’

The embattled Budget chief was referring to two construction firm — the CT Leoncio Construction and Trading, and the Aremar Construction — tagged as the “favored” contractor of the DBM.

Panelo cited the rude treatment that Diokno received from lawmakers in defending Duterte’s supposed instruction to his Budget chief not to attend the Congressional probe.

“Another reason is that if you will be submitting questions to a resource person, and you will not be asking them, what’s use of going there?” Panelo noted, adding that “as courtesy, we will always respond to any invitation.”  /muf