Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Wednesday that it is unfair to drag the construction of the chamber's new building in Taguig City into the senators' reservations about creating a Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).

"Walang kinalaman yon sa pagtayo ng ibang departamento. It's not fair to include that," Sotto told reporters in a virtual interview.

In asking the Senate to act on DDR bills, Albay Representative Joey Salceda on Sunday took a swipe at senators for supposedly prioritizing funds their new building while opposing the creation of the DDR.

"Well, gastos din pala ‘yong paglipat sa BGC, unahin na nila ‘yun. Napakasimple lang naman ang sinasabi ko, unahin muna ‘yong P10 billion na paglipat sa BGC (Well, since their transfer to the Bonifacio Global City is also an expense, they should prioritize that. What I am saying is very simple, let them prioritize their P10-billion expense for their transfer to the BGC),” he told radio DZBB in an interview Sunday, saying only P2 billion is needed to create the DDR.

“Napakasimple lang naman ang argumento diyan, eh: Kanya-kanya tayong priorities, ano ba ang prayoridad mo (The argument there is very simple: We have our own priorities, what is their priority)?" he added.

Asked about this, Sotto said: "Magkaiba yon, eh (That's different). Huwag niyang idikit 'yon (He should not compare those two)."

"Hindi naman kami ang huling makikibang dito, 'yong mga darating pang Senado (We are not the ones to benefit from this, but the future Senate). Imbes na nagbabayad sila, may sarili na silang building (That instead of paying for rent, they have their own building)."

Since 1996, the Senate has been paying rent to the Government Service Insurance System for its office and to the Social Security System for the use of its parking lot in Pasay City, amounting to an annual fee of P171 million as of 2019.

Meanwhile, some P8.5 billion was allocated for construction of the four-tower, 11-story, Senate complex in the Philippine Navy Village in Fort Bonifacio.

"Taon-taon napakalaki ng binabayaran ng Senado rito, eh (Every year, the Senate pays a hefty amount for the lease)," Sotto said.

"Gusto nila, sila magrent, kami doon sa Batasan (If they want, we could switch places, the congressmen will rent, then senators will be in the Batasan)," he added, referring to the House of Representatives' headquarters in Quezon City.

During their plenary discussions on the proposed 2021 budget Wednesday, senators shared the view that the creation of new departments would lead to the bloating of the bureaucracy and would affect the funding for more important government programs and services.

Of the P4.506-trillion proposed 2021 budget, P1.32 trillion was set aside to pay for the wages of government employees, among others -- an amount higher than the allocations for key government programs, senators pointed out.

Sotto, supported by his colleagues, said the Senate should prioritize the rightsizing of the government before they approve the bills creating new departments.

"Maganda ang epekto niyan (It will have a good effect), leaner bureaucracy less gastos (expenses) for government. There will be more funding or more budget for government to deliver basic services," he said.   

"Okay lang kung magkaroon ka ng (It's okay to have a) department of disaster, or you upgrade the NDRRMC...Pero habang bloated tayo, magdadagdag tayo ng pang-bloat, tama ba 'yon (But we are already bloated and we will still opt to create another agency to add to this bloating, will that be proper)?" he said.

In 2018, President Duterte said he had no objections about the Senate's plan to have its own office.

"Anywhere the Senate wants to build it, we will say ‘Amen,'" Duterte had said.