Speaker: House power of the purse non-negotiable

MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Martin Romualdez has made it clear that the House of Representatives’ power of the purse – the constitutional mandate to scrutinize the government’s annual budget – is “non-negotiable” regardless of political implications.

In a speech delivered during the resumption of congressional session on Monday, Romualdez reminded his colleagues in the House that they owe it to the 114 million Filipinos who they represent collectively and who elected them into office and expect so much from them.

“Our most important clients, the constituents we are all duty-bound to serve, expect nothing less than results founded on honesty, trustworthiness and moral uprightness – non-negotiable demands that we must safeguard and deliver,” Romualdez said.

“A major part of our mandate is to provide honest and credible public service, one aspect of which is exercising the power of the purse, a constitutional obligation that entails careful and judicious examination of the national expenditure program,” he added.

While Romualdez did not name the person or persons who maligned him as well as the institution, his ally – Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga – identified the person in question as former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte earlier described the chamber as a “rotten” agency in government. He was ranting on a television network based in Davao City whose evangelist-owner is a very close friend of his, about how “rotten” the House is and its members, ostensibly after the leadership realigned the confidential funds of his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte.

“Let not our hard work be undermined by a dissatisfied few whose only intention is to sow divisiveness,” Romualdez said, apparently referring to the former president.

”Let our outputs speak for our loyalty to our country, the Constitution and the entire Filipino people,” he added. “I am prepared to stand before anyone and defend our actions and decisions, even in the face of issues that threaten our institution’s integrity. We have consistently upheld the principles associated with democracy, representation, fairness, pluralism and even dissent.”

Romualdez credited the opposition Makabayan Bloc, which have been most vocal in scrutinizing every bill and budget allocation of every government agency, for helping them correct some mistakes or plain oversight.

“We have an alert minority to thank for doing their share of spadework in digging into the finer details of the budget,” he said, referring to the 28-member opposition group led by House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan of 4Ps party-list.

“The House was never lenient, nor did it favor anyone. The entire process was dedicated to uplifting the lives of our fellow citizens and staying true to the fundamental principles of the system of checks and balances in the government,” Romualdez said.

“At the end of the day, what matters most is that lawmakers did their job, and did it well.”

He said the House’s defense against those who endanger the integrity of the institution is to fulfill its utmost priority, which is to pass the most significant and responsive pieces of legislation.

Romualdez said that by complementing the legislative agenda of the President, lawmakers stay true to their sworn duty despite pressure from all fronts.

“Let us focus on the tasks at hand. When our goals are aligned, we could be an excellent force, propelling our country into unbridled progress. Let us ensure that our actions will promote development in all spheres of both the government and society,” he said.

9 senators want to restore Sara’s secret funds?

The Senate will investigate the leakage of information from an all-member caucus held on Monday, which said that nine senators support efforts to restore the CIFs of the Office of Vice President (OVP), which were reallocated by the House of Representatives.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said he would ask Sen. Nancy Binay, chair of the Senate ethics committee, to investigate the leak that Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Jinggoy Estrada, Lito Lapid, Bong Go, Robin Padilla, Ramon  Revilla Jr., Francis Tolentino and Cynthia Villar want Vice President Sara Duterte to have  P625 million in confidential funds.

“I called up Sen. Nancy Binay because she’s the head of the ethics committee. We have to send a very strong signal that this should not happen again,” Zubiri said during the plenary.

Online news portal politiko.com.ph reported that an Iskooper said the nine senators reportedly want to undo the realignment of Sara’s P625-million confidential funds, P500 million of which is lodged under the OVP and P125 million under the Department of Education.

The Senate will start deliberating on the proposed P5.768-trillion national budget today, with Senate finance committee chair Sen. Sonny Angara sponsoring the General Appropriations Bill on the floor.

Estrada said they tackled and discussed for almost two hours the schedule of the budget.

“We never voted on confidential and intelligence funds. In fact, we agreed unanimously to remove all CIFs not only that of the OVP and DepEd, but all civilian agencies with CIFs.”

“This report is putting us in a bad light. And I condemn this and I take offense on this,” Estrada said. “The report said Cayetano is supportive of reinstating Sara’s confidential funds if the VP could justify the need for these. This is not true. And I hope Sen. Pia Cayetano will agree with me.”

Estrada said the report also mentioned that Angara, Sens. Francis Escudero and Raffy Tulfo, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Sen. Risa Hontiveros are allegedly against the reinstatement of the allocation lodged under the OVP and DepEd. — Cecille Suerte Felipe