House Appropriations panel Chairperson Eric Yap countered the warning of Senator Panfilo Lacson on the constitutional provision that prohibits further amendments to the 2021 budget after its final approval.
“Here in Congress, we live by rules, not by law. And then ngayon gusto ko lang sabihin, certified as urgent ‘yung budget. Pagkatapos sa plenary, we have to do the second and third reading on the same day (Here in Congress, we live by rules, not by law. The budget has been certified as urgent. After the plenary, we have to do the second and third reading on the same day),” Yap said.
Yap also belied allegations of pork barrel in the national budget and challenged senators to point out the reported pork barrel.
“We just do agency-initiated amendments. Hindi ko alam kung saan (‘yung) sinasabi nilang pork…Dadaan naman sa Senate ‘yan, di ayusin nila (I don’t know anything about such pork… Since it will go through the Senate, they should fix it),” Yap said.
House Committee on Ways and Means Chairperson Joey Salceda added that the small committee only approved Php 20-billion institutional amendments without individual amendments.
The Php 20 billion amendment includes Php 100 million for ERC, Php 400 million for PNOC, Php 2 billion for DOH, Php 4 billion for DOLE, Php 1.7 billion for DepEd, Php 2 billion for DILG, Php 300 million for DOH mental health program, Php 5.5 billion for COVID-19 vaccine, Php 2 billion for pandemic assistance, and Php 2 billion for the AFP. – Report from Daniel Manalastas
