MANILA, Philippines — House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano challenged Oriental Mindoro Rep. Paulino Salvador Leachon to prove there were insertions in the government’s yearly financial plan even after the bicameral committee has already approved the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Cayetano made the remark a day after Leachon accused Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte of having inserted funds in the 2020 national budget.
READ: Villafuerte inserted funds in 2020 national budget after bicam – Leachon
“I challenge Doy Leachon, ano yung in-insert after the budget? Kakasuhan ko ‘yung nagpasok nun, pero kung hindi, siya kakasuhan namin,” Cayetano said in a press briefing in Quezon City.
Cayetano also belied the alleged budget insertions as they are “illegal.”
“I challenge him (Leachon), ilabas niya, which one ang pinasok after the bicam. Illegal yun, kaya nga vi-neto. That’s what I am telling you, they keep denying nagi-intriga sila pero lumalabas na diba?” the Speaker said.
Cayetano said that for the first time in history, the Senate was given a copy of the specific projects proposed by members of the House before the budget was approved and signed in the bicameral committee.
The Speaker also hit Leachon and his camp for making budget-related allegations, particularly against Villafuerte, while not disclosing that he himself had a P1.2 billion increase in budget.
“For the last three months, sinasabi ni Doy Leachon at mga kasama niya, ‘lahat ng pondo napunta kay LRay (Villafuerte), nabawasan kayo’, hindi naman niya sinabi na siya nadagdagan ng P1.2 billion. Tapos ngayon sasabihin niya after the bicam, we’ve been hearing that,” Cayetano said.
Following his ouster as chairman of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), Leachon claimed that Villafuerte had pork barrel insertions of almost P6-billion – including a budget for the construction of the Iconic Capitol Building (Phase 1) and a convention center in Camarines Sur.
This insertion, Leachon said, happened after the bicameral conference committee approved the budget.
“I say illegal because that was done after the bicam. ‘Yun nga ang pinangkakagalaiti ni (That’s what pissed off) Senator [Panfilo] Lacson eh. It was inserted after the bicam,” Leachon told reporters on Tuesday.
Villafuerte denied Leachon’s claims, calling the Oriental Mindoro lawmaker a “perennial liar.”
“Leachon’s claims only show he’s a perennial liar, especially when caught red-handed. Pork Barrel insertions and Amendments after the bicam is illegal and did not happen and will not happen under the leadership of Speaker Alan Cayetano,” Villafuerte said.
INQUIRER.net has reached out to Leachon for a comment but has yet to receive a response as of posting time.