Quorum woes bugs budget

The lack of a quorum threatened to derail Tuesday’s plenary deliberations on the proposed P1.8 trillion budget for 2012 but House leaders were quick to dismiss suggestions of a possible boycott by the opposition.

The session began at 10 a.m. but was suspended almost immediately because of the many vacant chairs in the session hall.

It resumed at 11 a.m., this time with a quorum, which gave Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya, chair of the committee on appropriations, just enough time to deliver his sponsorship speech for the budget proposal.

Abaya said the 2012 budget was about 10 percent higher compared to the previous year’s.

Seeing the dismal attendance, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II joked that House members were not used to holding sessions in the morning.

But Gonzales said it was not a boycott, noting that it was not unusual for congressmen to avoid the first few sessions of plenary budget deliberations where general principles are usually tackled.

“Who really listens to general principles except the chairman and minority leader?” he said.

Abaya described it as “first-day jitters rather than a sign of discontent” from House members.

Gonzales remained confident that the House would not miss its timetable to approve the budget measure.

Abaya said he would let the minority bloc take the floor to raise their concerns during the plenary.

Complaints by opposition House members over delays in the release of their pork barrel, or Priority Development Assistance Funds, gave rise to fears that they would subject the 2012 budget to greater scrutiny or worse, that they would actually boycott the budget deliberations.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, who attended the session, remained confident that the budget proposal would breeze through the plenary untouched.

Abad told reporters he respected the House’s power of the purse and prerogative to realign items.