Senate leaders are presuming regularity in the House of Representatives' post-approval amendments in the 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
Congressmen approved on Monday some P20-billion worth of institutional amendments to the P4.5-trillion proposed national budget which they passed on final reading last week.
Asked about its legality, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said there is no problem with their counterparts' move if it was made clear before their approval of the measure that amendments will be introduced and inserted to the bill later.
"If they manifested to do that before they approved on third reading, subject to style, then it's possible. It means they approved it in principle...As long as they manifest it before approval," Sotto told reporters.
"As they submit to us, we will of course presume regularity," he added.
Senate finance committee chairman Sen. Juan Edgarda "Sonny" Angara shared the same opinion, expressing confidence that the House of Representatives will comply with the constitutional processes of legislation.
"We presume regularity given it’s a co-equal House and we know that House leaders know the procedures outlined in the Constitution and will comply with such," Angara said in a separate text message.
The two senators' views were in contrast to that of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who maintained that legislators cannot revise a bill that has already been approved on third and final reading, even thru an errata coming from government agencies.
"Article 6, Section 26, Paragraph 2 of the 1987 Constitution is unequivocally clear, regardless of where the amendments will come from...'Upon the last reading of a bill, NO AMENDMENT THERETO SHALL BE ALLOWED, and the vote thereon shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the yeas and nays entered in the Journal'," Lacson pointed out in his statement.
"Wala namang sinasabi ang Constitution na 'pag naghahabol ng 'errata,' hindi ito applicable," he said. "It is time that we correct the mindset of the so-called representatives of the people in this regard."
The amendments of the House of Representatives included the allocation of an additional P5.5 billion for COVID-19 vaccines; P4 billion for the Department of Labor and Employment to assist displaced workers; P2 billion for pandemic assistance to affected families; P1.7 billion for the Department of Education for the Internet needs of schools for online classes; and P2 billion for the Philippine National Police, among others.
The Senate expects to receive a copy of the House-approved GAB by October 28.