Pia Cayetano to give cash gift to DSWD, but questions exclusion from MOOE distribution

Senator Pia Cayetano on Tuesday said she will be donating the P250,000 check from Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

 

In her manifestation, Cayetano said her office received a check worth P250,000 from Enrile's office last December but said they did not use it since it was not issued by the Senate itself.

 

"Since I did not know what it was for, I did not deposit it," she said.

 

And after finding out it was given by Enrile to all 22 senators from his office's own savings, Cayetano said she decided to turn it over to the DSWD for its programs for homeless, abused, and abandoned children.

 

However, she questioned why her office did not receive the second tranche of additional funds for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) worth P1.6 million like other senators. 

 

She, along with Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Antonio Trillanes IV, only received the first tranche of P600,000 last November.

 

"I humbly ask why was I excluded? I do not know the reason why," she said.

 

"Am I being penalized for speaking my mind and for pushing legislation that is contrary to the views of the Senate leadership?" she added.

 

But she said she cannot apologize for the stand she has taken on the Reproductive Health (RH) and Sin Tax laws.

 

She is an advocate of both bills while Enrile was on the opposing side.

 

"If this is [the] price I have to pay to fight for the things I believe in, then I will accept the imputations that come with my job," she said.

 

Cayetano said she has remained silent on the issue out of respect for Enrile.

 

"It saddens me that in my desire to be respectful to the Senate president and not make public statements before inquiring from him or the staff in charge, the Senate president prefers to impute malice upon my silence so here is my answer," she said.

 

Enrile had earlier said that Cayetano was not given additional MOOE funds because she was part of the minority and already has enough funding for her committees.

 

He added that senators in the minority are not even supposed to receive any committee chairmanships.

 

In his privilege speech delivered Monday, Enrile said that Cayetano's office has repeatedly been following up on the additional funds. — RSJ, GMA News