HOUSE of Representatives Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday, October 8, 2020, assured that a printed copy of the proposed 2021 budget will be sent to the Senate on November 5, 2020.
He said this will allow the Senate to start conducting hearings while awaiting the formal transmittal of the approved bill from the House.
Cayetano said the lower chamber will vote on House Bill No. 7727, or the General Appropriations Bill, and approve it on third reading when session resumes on November 16, 2020.
In a statement shortly after President Rodrigo Duterte warned that he will intervene in the speakership row if the budget is delayed, Cayetano said Congress is not evading its responsibilities.
"We welcome the President’s stern warning to all parties to stop all the politicking as it could jeopardize the welfare of our fellow citizens at this critical time. In this, we are not evading any responsibility for our own actions, and would in fact like to sincerely apologize again to the President and the whole nation for adding anxiety to an already uncertain situation," he said in a statement.
He also assured Duterte that the measures taken in the House are “legal, constitutional and in line with the honored precedence in the House."
"Neither I nor the other members of Congress will sacrifice the budget in this critical time, for political expediency," Cayetano said.
"Thank you Mr. President, Congress can now continue to deliberate on the budget without the specter of politics and intrigue hounding us," he added.
On Cayetano’s motion on October 6, the House terminated plenary debates on the budget bill, passed it on second reading and suspended session more than a week ahead of schedule.
Based on the legislative calendar, Congress is supposed to go on recess on October 17 yet. Session will resume on November 16.
Suspending session will prevent the camp of Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco from unseating Cayetano, who had agreed to step down on October 14 to honor their term-sharing agreement.
Under the term-sharing agreement brokered by Duterte in July 2019, Cayetano will serve as Speaker for the first 15 months of the 18th Congress and Velasco will take over in the next 21 months.
Cayetano has, however, refused to step down, saying Duterte had asked Velasco to wait until the budget bill is approved by December 2020. (Jove Moya/SunStar Philippines)