MANILA, Philippines — Saying he was visited by a butterfly who whispered to his ears, Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro lambasted what he said was a plan to block the release of funds for pet projects of members of the House of Representatives.
In a speech, Castro sang praises for his colleagues for passing the 2020 national budget but he changed tunes when he started exposing the plan to block legislators’ funding for projects in their districts.
Castro may have been referring to a statement made recently by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that all projects inserted into the 2020 budget by legislators would be reviewed before funds for these were released according to a directive from President Rodrigo Duterte himself.
He said those involved in the plan to block funding for the legislators’ pet projects were akin to a “butterfly” and “lost soul.”
“Mr. Speaker, last Monday, while I was in deep thought in the garden of our lower chamber, a butterfly landed on me,” Castro said in Filipino in his speech.
“This butterfly whispered something and according to it, there is a lost soul who is trying to block funding for the allocations of congressmen,” he said.
Castro said he wondered why anyone would block House members’ allocation because doing so meant blocking projects for Filipinos.
“Everyone knows that blocking funds or allocation for representatives of the people would bring frustration to our people who are dreaming of getting the progress they are dreaming of in the villages, progress in towns and progress in the whole country,” Castro said still in Filipino.
Castro also said the plan was also being discussed among members of the House.
“When I entered these halls, I didn’t know that what the butterfly whispered to me was already being talked about by my colleagues,” he said.
“I didn’t know that there was a plan to expose who the lost soul is because they are revolting,” he said, referring to his colleagues as they.
“They are aghast because my colleagues in this hall believe that what this hardened soul is planning to do is not against them, but against their constituents,” Castro said.
Castro, however, said he was able to convince his colleagues to stay calm and first identify who is behind the plan.
“Mr Speaker, my advice prevailed for them to first investigate who really is this hardened and lost soul,” he said.
“If we find out what the real character of this person is, I will suggest to them, I will suggest to everyone who are here now, my colleagues in this hall, that we unite to defend the rights of our people,” Castro said.
Ending his speech, Castro urged his colleagues to assert the power given to them as elected representatives of the people.
“The representatives of the Filipino people should stand by their right to ask for and deliver what the people need and for this not to be a disappointment just because of the work of a lost and hardened soul,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed the P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget in early January this year.
The P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 is the country’s largest to date, larger by 12 percent than the 2019 national budget.