The plenary hall of the House of Representatives (Dexter Barro II/MANILA BULLETIN)

The House of Representatives on Thursday, Sept. 19, deferred the plenary deliberation on the proposed P27.1-billion budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for 2025 over responses that left minority lawmakers “unsatisfied”.

PHILRECA Party-list Rep. Presley de Jesus, a deputy minority leader, moved to defer the agency's budget deliberation.

“Mr. Speaker, to be honest with you all the questions that I’ve asked and the questions of Congressman Arlene [Brosas] and Congressman France [Castro], we’re not satisfied, to be honest,” De Jesus said during his interpellation.

“I therefore move to defer the budget deliberations of DENR until such time that all the questions that we asked, especially the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), will be given to us,” he added.

After a one-minute suspension, the majority joined De Jesus’ motion.

House Deputy Speaker and TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza, who was presiding over the deliberation, approved the motion after hearing no objection.

“Mr. Speaker, we bow to the wisdom of the House,” said Palawan 2nd district Rep. Jose Alvarez, the designated budget sponsor of the DENR.

DENR is the first agency to be deferred during the ongoing plenary debates on the proposed national budget for next year. 

De Jesus, in particular, questioned the agency over its failure to address concerns regarding its MOU with Prime Infra-led WawaJVCo. This partnership is related to the reforestation of a 1,800-hectare area within the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL).

When asked for a copy of the MOU, Alvarez said: “DENR has the copy of the MOU for the distinguished colleague to read it, maybe it’s possible. But to give him a copy when there is no consent is not possible."

“Again, I don’t agree with our distinguished sponsor, kagaya no’ng mga tanong ng dalawa kanina (it's like the questions of the two earlier),” replied De Jesus, referring to Brosas and Castro of the Makabayan bloc.

The lawmaker likewise raised concerns on the DENR’s confidential funds, which the agency wasn’t able to properly address.