Palace sees signing of budget by yearend

MANILA, Philippines — With President Duterte calling for a special session this week, there should be no more stumbling block to the passage of the P4.5-trillion budget for next year on or before Dec. 31, Malacañang said yesterday.

“It’s his way of making sure the proposed 2021 budget program is enacted into law, because as we all know this budget is for fighting COVID-19,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in Filipino in a radio interview.

He said Duterte had to act decisively by ordering the House of Representatives to return to work this week to make sure the budget is approved on third and final reading and transmitted to the Senate before the congressional break on Thursday.

Roque maintained that Duterte did not want to get embroiled in political maneuverings in the lower chamber, arising from the leadership squabble between Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.

In a televised address Thursday night, the President called on Cayetano to resolve the leadership row in the House and focus his attention on passing the budget.

“The President was telling them, ‘don’t drag me into your mess, I’m out of it. It’s an internal matter in Congress.’ What he hates is that this battle over a position might affect the national budget,” he said.

The leadership row was triggered by Cayetano’s refusal to give up the speakership in favor of Velasco based on their term-sharing agreement brokered by the President last year.

Duterte certified the budget measure or House Bill 7727 as urgent immediately after announcing his call for a special session from Oct. 13 to 16.

In certifying HB 7727 as urgent, the President cited the need “to maintain continuous government operations following the end of the current fiscal year, strengthen efforts to respond more effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic and support initiatives towards national economic recovery.”

House leaders have committed to devote the special session to budget deliberations and set aside their political agenda.

With the President’s calling for special session, the minority bloc said it has abandoned its plan to hold parallel deliberations on the budget.

Minority Leader Rep. Benny Abante said they had considered holding parallel deliberations in response to Cayetano’s five-week suspension and “in order to fulfill our mandate to thoroughly scrutinize the budget and to properly evaluate the proposed allocations for the government’s various line departments.”

Majority Leader Martin Romualdez also appealed to allies and the “constructive minority” for full cooperation.

“The House leadership will immediately act next week on the request of President Duterte to pass the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021 on third and final reading,” Romualdez said in a statement.

“The members of the super majority and our colleagues from the constructive minority bloc are one with the Duterte administration in the implementation of its comprehensive plan to rebuild the Philippine economy, defeat coronavirus disease-2019 and ensure that government services are not derailed,” the Leyte congressman said.

“We appeal to our colleagues to give their full cooperation in ensuring the swift enactment of legal and constitutional General Appropriations Bill (GAB) as requested by President Duterte to support his vision for the nation in the years to come,” he added.

Minority support

Abante said the administration can count on the minority bloc to help in the swift passage of the budget.

“We in the minority support any initiative that will fast-track the deliberations and subsequent passage of the 2021 national budget. The special session called by President Duterte, together with his certification of the General Appropriations Bill as urgent, serves to emphasize the importance of passing the budget on time in order for the government to promptly carry out the programs and projects necessary to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our economy and to provide aid for our people in these challenging times,” Abante said in a statement.

“We in the minority will now be able to resume working with our colleagues in the majority to craft a pro-people budget that is on time, on target and on point. Our priorities should now be crystal clear; let us set aside politics, eschew the infighting that has plagued the chamber in recent weeks and focus on the task at hand,” Abante appealed.

The minority bloc earlier issued a statement signed by about 20 members questioning the move of Cayetano and his allies to swiftly pass the budget bill on second reading and suspending the session for two weeks.

Cayetano welcomed the President’s call for a special session, abandoning a declaration made hours earlier that he was standing pat on his decision to suspend session.

In anticipation of the House’s prompt approval of the proposed national outlay, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he might ask his colleagues to cut short their break so they could immediately play their part and facilitate the timely passage of the national budget.

“I will suggest it, when the GAB1 (General Appropriation) is transmitted to us before All Saints’ Day. I’ll suggest we resume one week earlier,” Lacson said.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Lacson’s suggestion might be tackled at a caucus on Monday.

“We have a caucus on Monday 1 p.m. to discuss that so we can get a consensus by then,” Zubiri said.

Lacson said an early resumption of session would allow Sen. Sonny Angara, Senate finance committee chairman, to sponsor the committee report on the floor, after which they can start scrutinizing the proposed 2021 budget for over 100 government agencies.

“The message of the President is very clear that he doesn’t want to delay passage of the 2021 budget,” he said.

Lacson said as a matter of practice, senators need four days to a week to examine the budget.

“Our target is on or before Dec. 19, the GAB must be in Malacañang to sign. Our budget calendar should be Oct. 12 in our House version, let’s say Oct. 14,” Lacson said.

No moral authority

Meanwhile, Velasco allies said Cayetano has lost his moral authority to lead the House after his questionable handling of the budget issue.

“Speaker Cayetano has miserably failed in his duty to lead the House in its mandate to review and pass the budget in the manner provided for in the Constitution and rules of the House,” Oriental Mindoro Rep. Salvador Leachon said.

“It’s shameful to the people. Why does the President need to be involved out of one’s undeterred desire to cling to power when it’s clear that all what is needed is to just comply with a gentleman’s agreement,” Leachon stressed.

The congressman believed that Proclamation No. 27 issued by Duterte is a clear indication that the suspension of session for more than a month did not sit well with him as it is unconstitutional.

“There could be no other interpretation except that the suspension was illegal and unconstitutional, especially when the President said that it is incumbent for Congress to pass a budget through process that is legal and constitutional,” he said.

Cebu City Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa agreed and said Cayetano has forfeited his right to govern the lower chamber.

“Speaker Cayetano has failed in his sworn duty to uphold and defend the Constitution when he caused the railroading of the budget and suspended the session without giving all lawmakers the chance to scrutinize and allocate the budget properly,” Abellanosa said.

“With all due respect, I think the Speaker already lost his moral authority to lead the House. Speaker Cayetano, it’s time for you to let go of the House leadership and hand it over to Congressman Velasco in accordance with the term-sharing deal brokered by no less than the President,” he said.

Ako Probinsyano party-list Rep. Jose Singson Jr. said Cayetano has failed House members and the people they represent in Congress following his mishandling of the 2021 budget.

“Speaker Cayetano has failed the nation and this is all because of his vicious desire to cling to power,” the party-list lawmaker said.

Singson said the ongoing speakership row has exposed Cayetano’s trait and real agenda.

“Cayetano has shown how power can be addictive that he would do everything to stay in power at the expense of the budget, Congress and the Filipino people,” Singson said. — Edu Punay, Cecille Suerte Felipe