No pre-plenary talks between OVP, house budget sponsor – Adiong

Metro Manila, Philippines— Lanao del Sur Representative Zia Alonto Adiong said the proposed meeting between him and the Office of the Vice President (OVP) did not push through ahead of the budget plenary debates at the House of Representatives on Monday, Sept. 23.

In an interview with NewsWatch Plus, Adiong pointed out that he had only received a letter from the Office of the Vice President Sara Duterte. The House Committee on Appropriations proposed to cut the P2.03 billion budget of the OVP to P733 million.

“Simula noong tayo noong nakipag-ugnayan tayo sa kanila, sinulatan pa natin sila, hanggang ngayon wala pa tayong nakukuha, ang nakuha lang natin response sa kanilang liham ay naibigay na raw nila naipasa na nila sa House of Representatives yung mga kanilang budget proposal, so hindi nagkaroon ng pag uusap, maliban doon sa liham na nakuha natin sa OVP,” said Adiong.

[Translation: Since we reached out to them, we even wrote to them, but until now we haven’t received anything. The only response we got from their letter is that they have submitted their budget proposal to the House of Representatives, so there was no meeting, aside from the letter we received from the OVP.]

The lawmaker said the letter was similar to the one sent by Duterte’s office when she skipped the second budget deliberation on the OVP budget.

“Similar sa Committee on Appropriations na naibigay at na ipresinta na yung budget sa unang pagdinig, yung pre-briefing,” said Adiong.

[Translation: It’s similar to the Committee on Appropriations, where the budget was already submitted and presented during the first hearing, the pre-briefing.]

Despite the lack of participation from the OVP, Adiong said he will make do with the submitted documents from the OVP to defend the proposed budget.

Adiong explained that House lawmakers’ scrutiny of the OVP budget was prompted by a report from the Commission on Audit (COA).

“Sa atin pong palagay, ang COA ang nagbigay ng obserbasyon hindi ang House of Representatives. Hindi naman pwede hindi natin bigyan pansin ang report ng Commission on Audit ang panggasta,” said Adiong.

[Translation: In our opinion, it was the COA that raised the observations, not the House of Representatives. We cannot ignore the COA’s report on expenditures.]

As for the initial comments from senators to restore the proposed budget of the OVP, Adiong said that the bicameral conference of Congress will have to resolve the differences on budget issues.

“Pag bicam naman na talaga, doon na ang final approach sa budget, it’s about the process, it’s about the system,” said Adiong.

[Translation: When it reaches the bicameral conference, that’s where the final approach to the budget takes place. It’s about the process, it’s about the system.]