The Senate and the House of Representatives will start on Tuesday, December 1, the bicameral conference committee meetings on the P4.5-trillion proposed national budget.
"By tomorrow we will start the bicam and we will iron things out kung ano po 'yong Senate version at ano po 'yong sa House version (between the Senate version and the House version of the budget bill). We will find a way na magkasundo kami (that we can meet halfway)," House Appropriations Committee chairman ACT-CIS Rep. Eric Yap told ABS-CBN News Channel in an interview Monday, November 30.
Yap, however, stood firm that there were no irregularities in the realignments approved by the House, particularly their proposed appropriations for infrastructure projects in their respective districts.
Senator Panfilo Lacson earlier raised "noticeable" increases in the districts funds that allegedly favored allies of Speaker Allan Lord Velasco and deductions in those allied with ousted speaker and Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano.
Camarines Sur 2nd District Representative Luis Villafuerte confirmed the claim, saying P386 million was slashed from the budget of flagship infrastructure projects in Bicol.
"Wala po akong nakita talaga na nilipat from allies ni Speaker Cayetano papunta sa allies ni Speaker Velasco (I really did not see any realignments from the allies of ex-Speaker Cayetano to the allies of Speaker Velasco). In fact, to set things straight, si Speaker Velasco, hindi siya nakialam doon sa mga amendments ng agencies (Speaker Velasco did not meddle in the amendments of agencies)," Yap denied.
He instead attributed the realignments to the submission of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
"'Yong DPWH po, sila po ang nagbigay sa amin ng (It was the DPWH who gave us those) amendments. And some of the amendments, siguro po 'yong sinasabi ni Deputy Speaker LRay Villafuerte na nawala sa kanya P386 million (The one cited by Deputy Speaker LRay Villafuerte that he lost P386 million), that is a Build, Build, Build project. Pero I think nilipat ng DPWH sa mas priority, doon sa mas matatapos by the end of 2022 (But I think the DPWH decided to transfer it to priority projects, those that can be finished by the end of 2022)."
"So ang bottomline po dito, ang nag-realign po is DPWH (it was the DPWH who realigned the funds) and we just adopt the amendments given to us by the department," Yap said.
Addressing Lacson's observations, Yap said he was not siding with Velasco or Cayetano, saying the incumbent speaker even entrusted him with the budget bill due to his independence.
For his part, he also said it was only proper that the DPWH increase the allocation for Benguet province, citing the destruction of the roads following landslides. He is acting representative of the province.
He said he did not lobby for the allocation of the funds.
"I can assure po na free po ito sa (that this budget is free of) pork barrel. Sa paghahalughog at pagtingin ko sa GAB, wala po akong nakita na pork barrel (In my scrutiny and review of the GAB, I did not see any pork barrel). All I can see is a project that will benefit the Filipino people…A budget that can help the Filipino people fight COVID-19 and other disasters," he said.
He also vowed to Velasco that "the appropriations will be independent regardless of politics."