Having netizens participate in the per agency budget briefings in the House of Representatives is "like a breath of fresh air."
Kabayan Party-List Rep. Ron Salo said this on Tuesday as the House entered its third day of deliberations on the P4.506-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2021 or the proposed national budget.
"Reading out netizens’ questions and having them answered by resource persons during budget deliberations is a very creative and innovative way of directly involving the public in this highly important government process," said Salo, vice-chairman of the House Committee on Public Information.
"It makes the concept of participative democracy more meaningful as it allows the people to directly participate in the passage of the country’s national budget. I laud Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano for introducing this innovative process, it's like a breath of fresh air," he added.
It was in May when the House began livestreaming its hearings on Facebook as part of the new normal caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has allowed online viewers to post questions and reactions to the hearings in real time.
"I think this new feature is very timely because of the pandemic," Deputy Majority Leader, Camiguin lone district Rep. Xavier Jesus "XJ" Romualdo said.
"Generally, the public participates in the process through their representatives in the House, but one thing we realized early on is that the pandemic can and does affect each one of us quite differently. So, if we can get more voices into the process and hear how our constituents are truly affected, what their most urgent concerns are, and what they actually need in terms of government response and intervention, we can craft a budget that will truly be very responsive to the needs of our people," he said.
Last Friday, the Committee on Appropriations, the main panel that peruses the NEP, carried a motion allowing it to receive questions from netizens during the conduct of the per agency budget hearings.
Committee on Rules member, Zamboanga Sibugay 1st district Rep. Wilter "Sharky" Wee Palma II said the House rules allow this. "What is prohibited is for the public to speak before the plenary session; only members of the House are allowed to speak before the chamber," he said.
Section 35 of the rules reads: "Meetings and public hearings shall be open to the public subject to reasonable regulations in the interest of security, order, and the safety of persons in attendance."
Palma noted that the ongoing Appropriations panel proceedings on the NEP aren't even considered hearings per se "because these are mere briefings of the agencies' budget proposals."
Salo said soliciting responses to these "vox populi" questions strengthens the accountability of government officials to the people. "It also enables the people to directly air their concerns, as well as share their desires and aspirations to the officials entrusted with the government coffers."
Manila 1st district Rep. Manuel "Manny" Luis Lopez also welcomed this initiative from Cayetano, who has taken full advantage of the benefits of social media and technology in general in his tenure as Speaker.
"I think that shows the intent and goodwill of the House leadership to have transparency in the budget proceedings," Lopez said.
He suggested that the Lower Chamber make it a "standard operating procedure" from now on to have agency officials field questions from netizens during budget discussions.
The 300-member House possesses the power of the purse, which is basically the authority to allocate public funds for government spending.