Nograles calls on House to resume plenary deliberations on 2021 budget

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Friday urged the House of Representatives to resume plenary deliberations on the proposed 2021 national budget after President Rodrigo Duterte warned against delaying its passage amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nograles echoed Duterte’s statement that Filipinos could not afford to have a delayed budget because of its provisions for COVID-19 response and relief.

“We cannot hostage the budget. We cannot afford any delays in the budget,” Nograles, a former Davao City lawmaker, said in a CNN Philippines interview.

“The long and short of it is I think, I believe the House of Representatives should convene and begin again budget deliberations and pass the budget before the break.”

On Thursday, Duterte said congressmen should resolve the leadership issue and pass the P4.506-trillion proposed budget “legally and constitutionally.” The President did not set a timeline, saying only dictators impose such a directive.

He also urged lawmakers not to drag him into the speakership mess.

“Huwag na ninyo akong idamay sa away ninyo at tapos in the future people will be asking what happened to the administration of Duterte or the administration of Arroyo or of Aquino or of Ramos?” Duterte said in a pre-recorded message.

“Hindi man sila magtanong kung sino ‘yung mga tao doon responsible for the haywire administration of a certain period gaya ko sa panahon ko.”

Some senators have raised the possibility of a reenacted 2020 budget after the House of Representatives on Tuesday suspended its session until November 16 without passing the national spending bill on final reading.

The abrupt suspension took place amid a leadership squabble between Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco, both allies of the President who brokered a term-sharing agreement for the speakership last year.

Nograles believes the President found the early suspension of the session wrong.

“I think that’s the message of the President, that it shouldn’t have happened because they should have stuck with the calendar,” he said.

“Remember, the Senate is also working on a legislative calendar, and a budget calendar at that. That’s why you heard the senators reacting because everyone knows the budget calendar.”

Cayetano has assured Duterte that the budget would not be sacrificed for “political expediency.”

He also said that they will submit the House version of the budget to the Senate on November 5 even though its approval on final reading will take place on November 16.

“Ideally, you can pass it on third reading [on November 16] but why take a chance when you can already pass the budget now as prescribed by your budget and legislative calendar?” Nograles asked.—AOL, GMA News