Sotto to House: See you next Congress
MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III has given members of the House of Representatives an ultimatum on the alleged realignment in the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget.
“If they (House leaders) will not change (their stand on the budget realignments) then we will just see them next [C]ongress,” Sotto said in a Viber message to reporters.
“They are obfuscating the real issue. See you next Congress,” he added.
Sotto was reacting to fresh allegations coming from Senior Deputy Majority Leader Rodante Marcoleta that the upper chamber realigned P11 billion worth of road right of way projects from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Marcoleta claimed that the amount was part of the P74-billion post-bicam budget realignments allegedly made by the Senate.
The congressman further said that the Senate realigned some P3 billion from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TEsda) scholarships, P2.5 billion from foreign assistance projects, and P2.5 billion from the national greening program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
“Pero hindi nila sinasabi sa inyo ‘yun… Kinuha nila ‘yun ng hindi nalalaman ng House (They haven’t told you that. They got that without the knowledge of the House),” Marcoleta said.
READ: Senate-realigned P11B infra fund to hurt ‘Build, Build, Build’ — Marcoleta
“Check [the] journals. The senators proposed everything on [the] floor,” Sotto retorted.
The Senate President also denied any realignment that can be deemed unconstitutional, saying that not a single senator “touched anything” after both chambers of Congress ratified the proposed national budget.
“Proposed amendments of [the] senators were proposed even before [the] bicam (bicameral conference committee),” Sotto said.
“Not a single member of [the] Senate can say we touched anything after [the] bicam. On [the] other hand, there are numerous complaints from HOR (House of Representatives) members of realignment [after the] [r]atification in [the] plenary,” he added.
Earlier, House appropriations committee chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. said the Senate realigned around P75 billion of the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget.
READ: Senate-realigned P11B infra fund to hurt ‘Build, Build, Build’ — Marcoleta
Both chambers of Congress ratified the proposed national budget for 2019 in early February, but it has yet to be signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte.
READ: After months of delay, Congress finally ratifies 2019 budget
The Senate and the House have been in a deadlock on the budget due to an exchange of allegations of post-bicam realignments from both sides.
READ: Senate-realigned P11B infra fund to hurt ‘Build, Build, Build’ — Marcoleta
READ: Sotto: Modified budget bill contains P96B House realignments
READ: Lacson: Arroyo allotted P95B in infra funds to her allies
Just recently, congressional leaders met with Duterte but failed to reach a consensus on the budget. /ee
READ: No consensus yet on 2019 budget despite meeting with Duterte
