Diokno to attend House probe into supposed budget anomalies

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno will heed the summons of the House Committee on Appropriations to attend a hearing on supposed anomalies in the proposed 2019 national budget, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Thursday.

The committee moved to subpoena Diokno after his repeatedly skipped the hearings.

“Given these facts and the misconceptions about the process, we take any subpoena from the House as an opportunity to clarify all these matters not only to the public, but also for the official records of House,” the Budget chief said in a statement.

Budget Undersecretary Amenah Pangandaman is also attending House Appropriations Committee hearing this Friday.

According to the panel chaired by Representative Rolando Andaya, Diokno has snubbed the hearing five times.

The lawmaker has been claiming that Diokno was involved in supposedly anomalous transactions of contractor CT Leoncio Construction and Trading in Sorsogon, and has repeatedly claimed that there are other Cabinet officials who are part of this scheme in the Bicol region.

During a separate hearing by the House Committee on Rules in Naga City earlier last month, the lawmaker claimed that CT Leoncio was only a front, and that the company of Diokno’s in-laws, Aremar Construction Corp., was the one cornering contracts from the winning bidders.

The lawmaker also alleged that the DBM inserted P385-million worth of projects supposedly for flood control in Casiguran, Sorsogon, which he believes was where the “parked funds” to be used for the 2019 elections were hidden.

Diokno, however, said the accusations are “without basis and are meant to discredit the good reputation of this administration’s DBM as one of the most transparent and credible institutions in the world.”

“For the record, on July 9, 2018, a Cabinet Meeting was held where the President approved the budget, including the P555-billion allocation to DPWH. Following the President’s approval, printing of the National Expenditure Program (NEP) commenced on July 10, 2018,” he said. —VDS, GMA News