THE House committee on appropriations endorsed the P8.2 billion budget proposal of the Office of the President (OP) for fiscal year 2022 without any deliberations.
Just a few minutes after the briefing on the budget started on Friday, September 3, 2021, Pangasinan Representative Tyrone Agabas moved to terminate the proceedings.
Bagong Henerasyon Representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy and Quezon City 3rd District Representative Allan Reyes seconded the motion.
The termination of the proceedings means the OP budget will go directly to the plenary.
Agabas said he made the move to “show parliamentary courtesy to a co-equal branch.”
Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Elago objected to the termination, but her objection was dismissed by Zamboanga City Representative Mannix Dalipe, vice chairperson of the committee, saying Elago is not a member of the committee.
ACT Teachers Party-list Representative France Castro and Bayan Muna Party-list Representative Carlos Zarate also expressed their objections.
“With due respect din po naman sa Office of the President pero dapat din po nating busisiin, tignan ‘yung budget ng OP. Tinitignan din kasi natin ditto ang mga budget na tingin natin ay hindi naman mahalaga. Malaki ang pangangailangan sa pagtugon sa pandemiya, education, manggagawa etcetera,” Castro said.
“Napansin po natin ang malaking budget na nilalaan sa intelligence fund (4.5-billion) hindi naman ito opisina ng military of PNP para maglaan ng budget ang Office of the President,” she added.
Dalipe, however, assured the other lawmakers that they can conduct interpellations during the budget deliberation at the plenary. (SunStar Philippines)