What was the difference between erstwhile Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and current Speaker Lord Allan Velasco as far as the contents of the proposed 2021 national budget is concerned?
Absolutely nothing, according to Bayan Muna Party-List Rep. Eufemia Cullamat, who insisted Sunday that the just-passed House Bill (HB) No.7727 was the same “militarist” budget that she and the rest of the Makabayan Bloc had been challenging for weeks.
“Nagkaroon man ito ng pagkaantala hinggil sa pagpapalit ng Speaker, hindi naman nagbago ang esensya ng nilalaman nito (Although it was delayed due to the change in Speaker, the essence of its contents did not change),” she said in a press conference over Zoom.
“Lumobo at dinagdagan pa lalo ang intelligence at confidential funds na hindi malinaw kung saan gagastusin at walang tiyak na accountability (The intelligence and confidential funds were increased despite their vague purpose and unclear measures of accountability),” Cullamat said.
She said she believes that the budget bill passed on third and final reading last week “won’t be able to respond to the interest of the people,” especially in connection with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Cullamat said she finds the budget lacking in terms of “assistance and subsidy” to Filipinos amid the public health emergency.
On the evening of Oct. 16, some 267 congressmen voted in favor of passing the P4.506-trillion proposed budget for next year. Cullamat and her five Makabayan Bloc colleagues voted against HB No.7727.
The measure was passed under the budding Speakership of Marinduque Rep. Velasco, whose election to the top post in the House was ratified only last Oct. 13.
It was Velasco, in fact, who resumed the plenary deliberation for the budget after it was prematurely ended by Taguig-Pateros Rep. Cayetano earlier this month, in one of his final acts as Speaker.
Both Cayetano and Velasco are allies of President Duterte. The two had a term-sharing deal for the Speakership this 18th Congress.