Sotto, Angara to ‘presume regularity’ in House’s post-approval of P20-B amendments

Senate President Vicente Sotto III. File photo / Alex Nueva España of Senate PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he will presume regularity in the P20-billion worth of institutional amendments made in the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021 recently approved by a “small committee” in the House of Representatives.

“As they submit to us, we will of course presume regularity,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III said in a message to reporters on Monday.

With the approval of the institutional amendments, Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda earlier said the House-approved budget bill is now ready for submission to the Senate.

The spending measure is expected to reach the Senate by the end of October. The bill was passed on third and final reading last Friday while the institutional amendments were approved on Monday.

“We presume regularity given it’s a co-equal House and we know that House leaders know the procedures outlined in the Constitution and will comply with such,” Senator Sonny Angara, chair of the Senate finance committee, said in a separate message.

However, Senator Panfilo Lacson said that “regardless of where the amendments will come from” the Constitution is “unequivocally clear” in stating that no amendments shall be made upon the last reading of a bill.

“The claim of the House Appropriations Committee chair that the ‘errata’ a.k.a. amendments will come from the implementing agencies and not from the individual House members will further muddle an already constitutionally infirm and error-filled budget measure,” Lacson said.

“Why? The authorization part of the four-phase budget process is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress, and the executive should deal only with budget preparation and execution,” he added.

Further, the senator said “[n]o amount of technicalities and sweet-talk maneuvers can correct a flawed budget that is supposed to address the problems and concerns of more than 100 million Filipinos.”

“It is time that we correct the mindset of the so-called representatives of the people in this regard,” he added.

JPV