Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. "lectured" the House Committee on Appropriations Monday, Sept. 5 during the resumption of the budget deliberations on the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget for 2023.

This, after Teves's point of order was ignored at the start of the Monday's appropriations panel briefing on the all-important Department of Agriculture (DA) budget.

Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo, Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin, and Zamboanga del Sur 1st district Rep. Divina Grace Yu delivered their respective opening remarks as Teves, who joined the hearing via Zoom, waited.

When the firebrand solon was finally recognized, he bared, "I am muted by the host."

"Oh, ganito lang. Pag may priority motion, dapat hindi minu-mute ng host dahil bastos yung ganun eh. Para tayong bumalik sa panahon ni Cayetano, di ba, nung nag-reklamo ako (So let's do it like this. If there's a priority motion, the host shouldn't mute it because it's disrespectful. It's like going back to the time of Cayetano, and I complained about that too)," he said.

A point of order is usually a question concerning procedure from lawmakers during a session or hearing.

"I raised a priority motion which is a point of order, because hindi binasa yung pangalan ko sa attendees (because my name wasn't read as among the attendees) and I am number four in the interpellators.

"Anong magiging hitsura ko sa kasamahan natin na wala ako sa attendance sabay number four ako sa interpellators (What face will I show to our colleagues if I'm not listed in the attendance and yet I'm number four among the priority interpellators)," Teves, a former deputy speaker said.

He further said: "Request ko lang sana sa lahat ng deliberasyon natin, i-respeto natin yung parliamentary procedure na tama (My request is, in all our deliberation, let us respect the correct parliamentary procedure). A priority motion is a priority motion, which should be recognized."

Quimbo, the senior vice chairperson of the appropriations panel, gave a simple explanation for the snafu: Teves supposedly didn't list up early enough.

"We apologize for that sir. Just to explain, we have periodic cut-offs for attendance-checking and so you logged on after the very first cut-off, so mare-recognize naman po kayo (you will get recognized eventually)," said the economist-solon.

Teves replied: "Maaga akong nag-log on, hindi pa kayo nagbubukas naka-log on na ko (I logged on early, I logged on even before you opened)."

He insisted that point of orders shouldn't be muted.

Quimbo ended the exchange by saying, "We acknowledge your very magnetic presence sir, good morning po sa yo (good morning to you)".