Sotto dares House to sign 2019 budget bill

MANILA, Philippines – Senate  President  Vicente Sotto III dared  the House of Representatives on  Monday  to sign and submit the  printed  copy of the 2019 national budget  if the latter’s amendments are indeed  legal.

The Senate and the House have traded  allegations  over the  alleged changes  made in the budget  even after they ratified its  approval.

Sotto  claimed that the House made  P79 million worth of realignments in the budget while House appropriations committee chairperson Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. alleged  that the Senate realigned P75 million.

Sotto vehemently denied  Andaya’s allegation.

“The Senate did not touch anything contrary to what the House appropriation chair is saying na Senado rin daw. Hindi…” Sotto told reporters on Monday.

“I have the assurance of the chairman of the committee of finance, the assurance of the LBRMO and even Sen. (Panfilo) Lacson that we did not touch anything  after we ratified it on the floor,”  he added.

The chairperson of the Senate  committee on finance is Senator Loren Legarda while  LBRMO stands for Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office.

“Hindi, hindi totoo yun. Lahat noong ginagawa nila sa House, binibintang nila sa amin. I’m saying  nga, we assure you not a single centavo was touched after we ratified,”  Sotto said.

If indeed there was nothing illegal with the amendments made by the House,  Sotto then said the lower chamber should  sign  the budget and  transmit it to the Senate.

“Kung totoo yung sinasabi nila na may ginalaw ang Senado at sila ay  indirectly umaamin na may ginalaw sila…kung ganun ang sinasabi nila at ang tingin nila ay legal yung ginawa  nila, e  di pirmahan nila . I-submit nila sa amin dito,” he said.

“That’s the challenge. Pirmahan nila, papirmahan nila sa Speaker yung sinasabi nila at ipadala nila sa akin.”

Asked again about the  alleged lump sums that Andaya  said the House had to itemize,  Sotto said this should have been done  at the  bicameral conference committee or even before  the budget was ratified.

The Senate and the House have already ratified the budget but it has yet to be transmitted to Malacanang for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.

Since January, the government has been operating based on last year’s budget amid the 2019 national budget impasse. / gsg