Heed proposals of watchdogs in natl budget talks, solon says

Kabataan Party-list Representative Renee Co appealed to the House appropriations panel to consider the amendments to be proposed by watchdog groups and civil society organizations in the upcoming national budget deliberations.

“We appeal to the House appropriations chairperson to actively involve civil society organizations in the national budget deliberations. If we want the open budget process to be genuine, we should allow the observers to lay their suggested amendments to be deliberated upon for inclusion. Let us not limit our discussions to the amendments backed by agencies alone,” Co told GMA News Online.  

“If we will only consider those amendments backed by agencies for adoption, then it raises a question if we are really open about our budget process and if we can really address the concerns of the public on how public funds are spent,” she added. 

Co was responding to the earlier pronouncement of House appropriations chairperson Mikaela Suansing that budget amendments backed by government agencies will be prioritized to avoid unmeritorious insertions.  

Committee on higher and technical education chairperson Jude Acidre earlier said that the presence of the watchdogs during budget deliberations will not be a token participation.  

House spokesperson Princess Abante said that the House plans to hold more consultations with budget watchdogs to ensure their genuine participation. 

“The House already conducted initial consultation with them, and there will be more to follow so we can identify the scope of their roles in the budget process. So far, they are non-voting observers. But definitely, their presence is a big step towards transparency,” she said. 

Suansing earlier announced that the proposed amendments of the lawmakers and agencies will be processed by the House subpanel on budget amendments review.  

The said subpanel will then endorse the amendments for adoption in the national budget, subject to the approval of the House appropriations panel.—LDF, GMA Integrated News