Cayetano apology accepted, Senate to do best of time left for budget –Sotto

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Thursday accepted House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's apology for "blaming in advance" the upper chamber for possible delays in the approval of the proposed P4.5-trillion national  budget for 2021.

"Accepted and I said we will do our best to work on the time we have as the Senate always does," Sotto said in a Viber message to reporters.

"He called. He promised to submit by November 5 their proposed copies of the different budget books, therefore the GAB (general appropriations bill), which they will approve on third reading. I said that will help us, especially our Finance Chairman," he added.

Sotto deemed as "unacceptable" Cayetano's blaming-in-advance the Senate should there be delays in the budget approval.  

Cayetano, later on, said in a Facebook live video that he already apologized to Sotto.

"Sabi ko nga kay Senator Sotto, pasensya ka na kung ganyan ang dating. I apologize kung ganyan ang dating. Pero kung titingnan mo yung buong context, hindi ganun ang context," Cayetano said.

"Yung context is kung magkakaroon ng reenactment, it won't be on the part of the House because we made sure that one day lang ang pinag-uusapan," he added.

'Certify as urgent'

Amid the changes in the budget deliberations timeline due to the early suspension of session in the House, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go said he will recommend to the Palace to certify the budget bill as urgent to hasten its approval.

"Nakikiusap po ako kay Pangulong Duterte na i-certify ang budget as urgent... At the end of the day, ang masisisi na naman dito ay ang Pangulo at ang Executive agencies kung hindi maipatupad ang mga programa na kailangan sa susunod na taon," Go said in a statement.

Nonetheless, he also challenged his colleagues to work together to approve the budget on time.

"Huwag na tayong magpasahan pa. Ipasa na natin ang dapat ipasa! Bilang isang mambabatas, I am challenging my fellow legislators — mga kongresista at senador — nakikiusap po ako, let us pass the 2021 budget on time," he said.

Senator Risa Hontiveros also vowed to ensure there will be no reenacted budget.

"The Senate is working overtime to pass the national budget. This is one of the most important budget deliberations of our generation and we will not allow it to be delayed by petty politics," she said in a separate statement.

"We are keeping our eye on the ball.  We started on time. We can finish on time," she added.

The sudden suspension of the House session without approving the budget on third reading has disrupted the Senate's original plan of tackling it on plenary immediately after session in Congress resumes on November 16. —LBG, GMA News