By Joann Villanueva/Philippine News Agency
MANILA – Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez denied on Thursday allegations that some members of Cabinet are actively lobbying for Taguig City Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano as the next House Speaker to ensure that certain insertions in the proposed 2020 national budget are kept.
Dominguez was reacting to Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza’s supposed accusation that the finance chief, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar are meddling in the House Speakership issue to be able to protect budget insertions.
According to the report, Atienza fears another year when funds will be allocated to non-essential projects like flood-control projects in areas that are not prone to flooding.
However, Dominguez said “the DOF (Department of Finance) does not interfere with the internal affairs of the Legislative Branch.”
“The DOF and attached bureaus and agencies have submitted only its budget request to the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) for consolidation and approval of the President,” he said.
“Its budget is one of the smaller departments and certainly does not contain any ‘insertions’, whatever that term means,” he added.
Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are set to elect their leaders during the start of the 18th Congress on July 22, 2019.
Aside from Cayetano, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez, and former Speaker and current Davao del Norte 1st District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez are vying for the Speakership.
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