Appropriations committee chairman ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap said Sunday that President Duterte's rather grim warning to the House of Representatives regarding the impasse on the 2021 national budget need not come to pass.
"(Duterte said) 'he will do it for us.' Pero hindi na po tayo aabot doon. Tiwala po ako sa leadership ng Congress (House) at Senate na hindi po papayag na magkaroon ng reenacted budget (We will not reach that point. I trust that the leadership of Congress and the Senate won't allow for a reenacted budget)," Yap said.
According to Yap, the scheduled return of plenary sessions from Oct. 13 to 16 would give House members enough time to pass the budget on third and final reading.
"’Yung 13 to 16, sa tingin ko po ay kaya na po. Na-certified as urgent na po ‘yung budget so kaya napong magpasa on second and third reading on the same day po (I think the 13 to 16 dates are enough. The budget has been certified urgent meaning we can pass it on second and third reading on the same day)," he said.
The P4.506-trillion budget measure, House Bill (HB) No.7727, was passed on second reading before the abrupt suspension of sessions last Oct. 6. The next House session was supposed to take place on Nov. 16, until a seemingly irked Duterte told House members in a televised address to get their act together and resolve the budget issue.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced that Duterte had called for special sessions from Oct.r 13 to 16. The budget brouhaha has developed alongside the ongoing war between incumbent Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and his term-sharing partner-slash-rival Marinduque Lord Allan Velasco.
"Hindi ko po nakikita na mare-reenact ang budget dito, matatapos po natin on time (I don't see the budget being reenacted, we will finish this on time)," Yap said.
Yap also said the "small committee" Cayetano formed would still hold a meeting Monday. They will determine their next move on the pending budget bill during the meeting.
"Bukas po magkakaroon kami ng pagpupulong ni Speaker Cayetano kung ano po ‘yung aming gagawin kung itutuloy po ba ‘yung second reading, uulitin po ba ulit? Or magtutuloy na kami sa third reading? ‘Yun po ‘yung pagdedesisyunan namin bukas (Tomorrow we will have a meeting with Speaker Cayetano to find out what we will do, will the second reading approval be retained, or will we have do-over? Or will we move toward third reading? We will decide on that tomorrow)," the party-list solon said.