MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives issued a subpoena against Budget Sec. Benjamin Diokno after failing to attend the hearings into the budget issue five times.
The subpoena dated Feb. 6 was signed by House appropriations chair Rolando Andaya Jr. and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Diokno’s camp had already welcomed this move.
“Given these facts and the misconceptions about the process, we take any subpoena from the House as an opportunity to clarify all these matters not only to the public, but also for the official records of House,” the Department of Budget and Management said in a statement.
READ: DBM welcomes Diokno subpoena from House
Other DBM officials were also compelled by the chamber to attend the resumption of the congressional probe on Friday, 10:00 a.m.
In a statement on Thursday, the Camarines Sur congressman insisted his allegations against the Budget Chief.
“The fact remains. There was P370 billion savings in 2017. There is a much bigger amount of savings in 2018. The DBM Secretary has the sole power to disburse them for government programs and projects. This savings-for-pork conversion must be stopped,” he said. /je
