Cayetano urges Senate, House to set aside issues over Bayanihan 2

Published August 25, 2020 05:08 PM By ERWIN COLCOL,GMA News

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday urged senators and his colleagues at the House of Representatives to set aside their issues with each other arising from disputes over the funding for the tourism sector in the proposed Bayanihan to Recover As One Act

In an ambush interview with reporters, Cayetano said he had personally talked with some senators who denied that they were making insinuations against House members.

He said he also talked with his fellow congressmen who admitted that they were hurt by the supposed insinuations.

"But it's up to the people to scrutinize, and it's very important that the Senate and the House work well together," Cayetano said.

"Baka pwedeng birthday gift na lang natin kay Senate President Tito Sotto to just reset and start reclaiming yung parliamentary courtesy, yung inter-chamber courtesy," he added.

During the plenary session to ratify the reconciled version of the measure, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate President Vicente Sotto III said that the Senate was “selfless” in its advocacies, which included setting aside P10 billion as a fund for small tourism players amid the pandemic.

Several congressmen, including Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, took offense to the statement of the Senate leaders, which seem to suggest that House members pushed provisions in the measure for their personal gain.

The congressmen wanted the P10 billion to go towards tourism infrastructure projects

, despite the urging of the Tourism Department and tourism stakeholders' call to keep the P10 billion as a credit facility for the sector’s COVID-19-hit micro and small players.

"Kung meron silang sa tingin na may maling probisyon na hindi sang-ayon sa kanilang pananaw, e sana sinabi nila at pinagdebatihan in a gentleman and a more diplomatic, statesman manner as against na pinagdebatihan na rin yan ng dalawa't kalahating araw," Villafuerte said.

"Tapos mag-iinsinuate sa mga kasamahan natin dito sa Kongreso, binabanatan na ang institusyon na tayo raw ay may personal interest lang at sila ay may advocacy. Mali yan," he added.

Cayetano said that although the Senate and the House have different points of view, there is indeed a need to assist the country's tourism sector.

"Just because we think na yung business owners ang kausap ng DOT at kami kausap namin yung nasa baba, that doesn't mean na both points of view aren't important. Importante yung point of view ng business owners, importante rin yung sa empleyado," he said.

"So I think rather than accusing each other of having some interest, let's look at the interest of the Filipino people and these sectors and let's be transparent about our programs," he added.

Cayetano asked senators and congressmen, though, that if they have issues with each other, they should say it upfront and not make indirect allegations.

"Let's make the accusations deretsuhan kung meron man. At the same time, huwag naman tayong maging onion-skinned," he added.

The House on Monday ratified the bicameral committee report on the proposed Bayanihan to Recover As One Act.

Since the Senate has already ratified the same report last week, the measure is now up for signature of President Rodrigo Duterte. — BM, GMA News

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