Palace backs Diokno skipping House hearing on 2019 budget

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang on Friday backed the decision of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno to skip the House appropriations committee hearing on the 2019 national budget despite a subpoena given to him.

Diokno justified his absence, saying the subpoena was issued only on Thursday morning and “clearly there was no proper notice and not enough time to allow him and other DBM officials and staff to adequately prepare” for the hearing.

Diokno, in a letter to Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, “sought a reset of the hearing,” invoking the right to “proper notice and a fair and just hearing.”

READ: Diokno won’t attend House panel hearing on Friday

Despite his non-appearance, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo assured the House of the executive branch’s cooperation.

“The Palace assures Congress, which we respect as a co-equal branch of the Government, that officials from the Executive Branch would give their full cooperation and if necessary, attend probes and inquiries in aid of its duty of legislation,” he said in a statement.

But Panelo said Congress should give proper treatment to Cabinet officials appearing before its hearings.

“Congress, however, should accord the same courtesy to an executive official whom it invites as a resource person by observing its own rules such as by affording the invitee, as well as his or her staff, proper notice and sufficient time to prepare for a committee hearing on a particular issue,” he said.

“This way, invited officials can adequately provide Congress the information which the latter desires to be knowledgeable of, thereby rendering the situation beneficial not just to both branches of the Government but more importantly to the people whom we ultimately serve as public servants,” he added.

He said Diokno “has already manifested his position on the matter and his explanation for not attending the congressional hearing today is well-founded in fact and in law. “

“We thus respect the Budget Secretary’s decision, and we are hopeful that knowledgeable men and women of Congress would similarly find the circumstances surrounding the said official’s explanation justifiable as they perform their best in passing this year’s budget,” he also said. /kga