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

House Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Manuel Jose "Mannix" Dalipe said committee inquiries, such as those on the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) linked to Duterte administration’s war on drugs and the criminal activities associated with Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), won't be interrupted.

This, as the House of Representatives prepares to start deliberations on the proposed P6.352-trillion national budget for 2025.

"Kinausap ako kahapon (Monday) ng ilang mga committee chairman natin na gumagawa ng mga hearings (I was spoken to yesterday by some of our committee chairmen who are conducting hearings) and they were asking guidance because usually in the previous years, we would hold all other hearings when the budget is presented to us and we would concentrate on the budget," Dalipe said in a press briefing on Tuesday, July 30.

He explained that committee chairpersons had requested to continue their hearings as they are now in the process of hearing from important resource persons and gathering vital information to complete their investigations.

The Committee on Human Rights, chaired by Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr., is currently probing the alleged human rights violations during the anti-drug campaign of the previous administration.

The ongoing inquiry aims to uncover the extent of the EJKs and hold accountable those responsible for any violations of human rights.

The panel recently invited former president Rodrigo Duterte and incumbent Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to attend a future hearing.

Meanwhile, the joint inquiry into violence linked to POGOs by the Committees on Public Order and Safety and on Games and Amusements focuses on addressing the incidents of crime and violence associated with these gambling companies.

Raids on POGO hubs across the country have revealed solid ties to anomalous activities, such as human trafficking, money laundering, and torture.

“Hinihingi po ng ating mga committee chairmen na payagan po sila na ipagpatuloy iyong mga committee hearings. Dati po iyong problema natin iyong committee hearing rooms, parati po tayong nauubusan ng committee hearing rooms. Pero this year, we have new spaces for committee hearings,” added Dalipe.

(Our committee chairmen are asking that they be allowed to continue the committee hearings. Committee hearing rooms used to be our problem, we always ran out of committee hearing rooms. But this year, we have new spaces for committee hearings.)

The majority leader said he has already instructed Secretary General Reginald Velasco to make available other spaces, especially in the new building at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, to the committees conducting probes.

This arrangement would allow for parallel hearings, thus ensuring the budget deliberations and the inquiries to continue without interruption.

“We will allocate the other rooms nearer to the Plenary Hall for budget briefing or budget deliberation and we will also reserve the other new spaces for those committees which have to continue with their investigation, especially dito po iyong ongoing tungkol sa drugs, tungkol doon sa POGO at mga iba pang important issues especially (the ongoing hearing about drugs, about POGO and other important issues),” the veteran lawmaker said.

Despite concerns over solons having "divided attention", Dalipe underscored that the House will manage both the budget scrutiny and other legislative functions.

He noted that it’s “a matter of time management” for congressmen to make sure that there is no time wasted by attending other committee hearings while waiting for their turn during budget discussions.

“They can just shuttle back and forth between the committee rooms," the solon added.

Dalipe said this approach would enable the lower chamber to meet its legislative deadlines without compromising the thoroughness of both budget scrutiny and ongoing investigations.