THE House of Representatives delayed anew the plenary deliberations into the proposed 2019 budget and instead constituted itself as a committee of the whole on Tuesday, September 18.

Majority Leader Rolando Andaya, who made the motion for the House to convene as a committee to discuss House Bill 8169 or the General Appropriations Bill, was designated as chairman of the committee of the whole, pursuant to Rule XVIII, Section 137 of the House Rules, which states that “the House may constitute itself into a Committee of the Whole on motion of the majority leader to act upon a bill or resolution.”

The committee of the whole functions like a regular committee with its membership composed of all the members of the House.

The recent development came about after a standoff among the lawmakers at the House of Representatives on the alleged P55-billion insertion in the 2019 budget that would allegedly benefit lawmakers who are allies of former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

The committee of the whole is now in the process of amending the report of the House appropriations panel led by Davao Representative Karlo Nograles. (SunStar Philippines)