Lagman: No withdrawal of 2020 budget bill; no delay in its approval

Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman. INQUIRER.net file photo / NOY MORCOSO

MANILA, Philippines — Albay 5th District Rep. Edcel Lagman said on Monday that there was no actual withdrawal of the bill on the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget.

He explained that there was just a change of referral of the bill, otherwise known as the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) from the House appropriations committee to the rules committee “for the time being.”

“[This is] since the budget briefings are ongoing and the plenary debates are yet to be scheduled,” Lagman said in a statement.

The lawmaker assured that there will be no delay in the budget process because at the proper time the House committee on rules will refer the GAB to the Committee on appropriations for sponsorship and deliberations..

“Meanwhile, the Committee on Appropriations will continue with the budget briefings on the NEP of which traditionally the GAB is a virtual replica,” Lagman said.

House Deputy Speaker for Finance Luis Raymund Villafuerte earlier said he withdrew the GAB from the plenary on August 28, after it was filed on first reading by the appropriations committee on the same day.

Villafuerte reasoned that the bill was “prematurely” filed as government agencies are still presenting their budget proposals to the chamber.

House appropriations committee chairman Isidro Ungab, however, said that Villafuerte moved for the withdrawal of the bill to make changes on it.

READ: Villafuerte withdrew 2020 budget bill to make ‘insertions’ — Ungab

He also opposed the withdrawal of the bill, saying it would “derail” the timely passage of the 2020 budget and “raise doubts” on the House’s proceedings.

READ: Withdrawal of appropriations bill to derail 2020 budget approval – Ungab

In a separate statement, Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite said that the current conflict on the 2020 budget could have stemmed from the last speakership fight in the House of Representatives.

He noted that Villafuerte is associated with House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano while Ungab is associated with Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

“This intramurals on the 2020 budget is a manifestation of the fight between their principals,” Gaite said.

He added that the fight is also manifested in the election of more than 20 deputy speakers, which, he said, “created another layer of bureaucracy” in the chamber.

“Another factor to be considered here is that the different conflicting ruling factions in Congress now have their own priorities and pet initiatives, so the issue of alloting or inserting pork is always an issue in the national budget,”  Gaite said.

“We hope that the budget impasse would be settled with the Filipino people’s interest that is upheld and not the pork of a few politicians,” he added. /jpv