Imee Marcos wants improvements in bicam budget talks

Senator Imee Marcos during the Kapihan sa Senado forum on Thursday, October 17, 2024. Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The bicameral conference committee procedures on the proposed national funding should be improved, according to Sen. Imee Marcos, who revealed that she intends to write a “love letter” to the Senate leadership regarding the matter.

In a Kapihan sa Senado forum on Thursday, Marcos said she was still drafting her letter of appeal that she would send to Senate President Chiz Escudero and committee on finance head Sen. Grace Poe.

The bicam committee, composed of selected lawmakers from the House of Representatives and the Senate, faces the huge task of reconciling the differences between conflicting provisions of the national funding.

“Unang una, maaga pa sana ay mag-usap usap na ang subcommittee heads ng House at ng Senado. Wala tayong gulatan, no? Mas maaga dapat mag-usap na tayo kung talagang kailangan – ano ba naman, nagkakaintindihan naman,” said Marcos.

(First of all, I hope subcommittee heads in the House and Senate talk ahead of time. Let’s not surprise each other. They should talk at an earlier time and make sure that they understand each other.)

“Secondly, aside from the vice chairs, they should gather and determine what changes will be finalized. I think the other thing is that, if possible, the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office and our finance committee here should also inform us about the required changes. No surprises,” she added in a mix of Filipino and English.

She likewise emphasized that bicameral conference committee meetings should not consist only of mere picture takings.

“Sana naman may kaunting diskusyon, at least ‘yung major changes. Debatihin naman natin sa maayos na bicam. ‘Wag naman yung biglang nagkakasisihan, biglang nagkakaturuan kung bakit naisingit ‘yan, tapos kukuhanin yung e-signature mo, tapos [sasabihin] alam mo ‘yan. Papaano naman yung ganon?” she said.

(I hope there will be some discussion, at least about the major changes. Let’s debate properly in the bicam. It shouldn’t be that suddenly there’s blame-shifting, and people pointing fingers on why something was inserted, and then your e-signature is requested, followed by the statement, ‘You know that.’ How can that be?)

Marcos then noted that she was still drafting her letter, but she reiterated that there was a need to change the system of bicam procedure.

READ: Lacson wants bicam budget talks open to public for transparency 

Later in the forum, she was asked if she was open to live-streaming the entire bicam process online, to which she answered in the affirmative.

Marcos, however, noted that some of her colleagues are not in favor of this.