7 of 10 solons with highest budget not ‘super close’ to me — Cayetano

MANILA Philippines — As the speakership row continues to hound the House of Representatives, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano debunked claims that his “friends” in the lower chamber got more funds in the proposed 2021 budget.

According to Cayetano, upon looking at the congressmen in the 10 congressional districts with the highest budget allocation in the proposed 2021 budget, seven of them are not “super close” to him.

“Look at the top ten. Tiningnan ko na yung top 10 sa mga distrito na nakakuha. Seven out of 10 ay hindi super close sa akin. Hindi mo masasabing barkada,” Cayetano said.

(I looked up the top 10 of districts that got [the highest budget allocation]. Seven out of 10 are not super close to me. You can’t say they’re close friends.)

“For example, Congressman [Manuel] Zubiri is one in the top 10, I think top 5. Look at the last vote, he did not vote for me but he is a very diligent, very smart, very hardworking guy na kahit may COVID nagpapakita sa floor [that even there’s COVID, he shows up on the floor]. I work well with him at walang problema [there’s no problem]. I will support his budget whether he supports me or not,” he added.

Zubiri serves as representative of the third district of Bukidnon.

“Ang problema ‘pag sobrang uhaw sa kapangyarihan ng iba ay willing silang isabatohe ang budget process, willing sila na kahit tatlong beses na pakiusapan ng presidente ay mag-no sa harap niya at willing manggulo,” Cayetano said.

(The problem here is that if there are someone really  hungry for power, they would be willing to sabotage the budget process, they are willing that even if the president politely asked them three times, they would say straight no and they are willing to disrupt.)

Earlier, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, who shares a term-sharing agreement with Cayetano, posed a question for the Speaker.

“Bakit ayaw bumitiw ni Speaker Cayetano at ng kanyang barkada sa puder? Simple lang, budget,” Velasco said.

(Why Speaker Cayetano and his friends don’t want to let go of the position? It is simple, budget.)

“Ang mga tanong kay Speaker Cayetano at sa kanyang barkada, budget ba ito para sa bayan or budget ng mga barkada mo? Makabuluhang budget ba ito sa gitna ng pandemya o malaking budget ba ito para sa grupo mo?” he added.

(Questions for Speaker Cayetano and his friends: is this a budget for our nation or budget for your friends? Is this a worthwhile budget amidst the pandemic or huge budget for your group?)

But Cayetano turned the tables on Velasco, saying it was the Marinduque lawmaker who said he would pass the National Expenditure Program (NEP) as is.

“E sabi naman niya sa mga kongresista, mga barkada lang ni Cayetano ang nakakuha ng malalaking budget. Unang-una sinabi mo sa Pangulo ipapasa mo as is, so you admit that it’s from the President. Paano naging barkada ni Cayetano o si Cayetano ang gumawa ng budget?” Cayetano said.

(He was telling congressmen only friends of Cayetano are getting huge budget. First you told the President you will pass it as is, so you admit that it’s from the President. How come this became friends of Cayetano or Cayetano made the budget?)

Cayetano then appealed to his colleagues to “put everything in the right time,” saying that this is not the time for politicking.

“Let’s focus on the budget muna in the next few days. After that sa floor, may oras pa naman tayo, para pag-usapan lahat ito [we have a lot of time to talk about this],” Cayetano said.

“Kung matutuloy yung plano na sa Friday second reading tapos sa [October] 14 naman yung third reading then we’ll have time in between that para mag-usap about national issues and issues sa House of Representatives. Pero please don’t burn down the House,” Cayetano said.

(If on Friday the second reading will proceed and on October 14 will be the third reading, then we’ll have time in between to talk about national issues and issues in the House of Representatives. But please don’t burn down the House.)

JPV