Senator Joel Villanueva (Facebook)

Senator Joel Villanueva--the same senator who previously belittled party-list congressmen--has once again caught the ire of House members, this time with his comments on the lower chamber's handling of the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) 2025 budget. 

Deputy Majority Leader Tingog Party-list Rep.Jude Acidre and Assistant Majority Leader Ako-Bicol Party-list Rep. Jil Bongalon called out on Sunday, Sept. 15 Villanueva's public attack on the the House Committee on Appropriations' recommendation to slash Vice President Sara Duterte's budget by 63 percent, or from P2.037 billion to P733 million. 

This recommendation from the appropriations panel came after the failure of the Vice President to address solons' concerns on her use of confidential funds. 

Acidre advised Villanueva to just “concentrate on fortifying his arguments on the Senate floor, where the real discussions on the national budget will take place". 

“Rather than casting aspersions on the House for fulfilling its sworn duty, Senator Villanueva should just allow us to craft the budget on our own terms and in the way we see fit," Acidre said. 

Between the House of Representatives and Senate, it's the House that possesses the power of the purse and gets first dibs on tackling Malacañang's National Expenditure Program (NEP) or proposed national budget.  

However, this didn't stop the Senate from carrying out advance discussions on the budget. 

"Darating din naman ito sa Senado so pwedeng doon niya ipahayag ang kanyang mga saloobin. Kasi pag ngayon siya magsasalita laban sa desisyon ng House, baka maparatangan pa siya na ‘di niya kayang depensahan ang kanyang posisyon sa mga kapwa niya senador. Pangit po tingnan," Acidre said of the former Senate majority leader.

(This will reach the Senate eventually so he can express his feelings there. Because if he speaks again the House's decision now, they might think that he can't defend his position from his fellow senators. It's a bad look.) 

Acidre noted that budget deliberations are central to the responsibilities of both chambers of Congress, and that the House has always exercised diligence in scrutinizing every aspect of the budget. 

“It’s ironic that Senator Villanueva criticizes the House for its handling of the OVP budget while failing to acknowledge that the Senate is also reviewing the same budget, including sensitive items,” Acidre added. 

Villanueva recently criticized the House of Representatives for seeking the significant cut on the OVP's 2025 outlay.He raised concerns about the implications of the move, and suggested that the OVP should be shielded from political motivations. 

Bongalon highlighted that Villanueva’s public comments violated inter-parliamentary courtesy between the two chamber. 

"Senator Villanueva's remarks about the House’s treatment of the OVP budget blatantly disregard the long-standing tradition of inter-parliamentary courtesy. Each chamber has its autonomy, and we expect the Senator to respect the House's jurisdiction in the same way that we respect the Senate’s role," Bongalon asserted. 

He also emphasized the importance of maintaining decorum in inter-chamber relations, and noted that Villanueva's frustrations should be addressed within his own chamber. 

“Instead of questioning the competence of the House, perhaps Senator Villanueva should direct his concerns toward his fellow senators in their upcoming deliberations. Could it be that he anticipates difficulty defending his stance against more experienced and well-versed senators?” Bongalon asked. 

READ THIS: 

https://mb.com.ph/2024/2/12/villanueva-gets-tag-teamed-by-2-congressmen-that-he-offended-with-his-comments


Villanueva is himself a former congressman under CIBAC party-list. 

He seemingly forgot this last February when he declared that senators cannot be compared to party-list solons since the latter receive way less votes during elections. At that time, the raging topic between the two co-equal chambers was the question on whether or not to pursue economic Charter change (Cha-cha). 

House Majority Leader Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe had also dared the then-24 senators to bare their cards on Cha-cha so the public may know in no uncertain terms whether or not they were in favor of it.  

To this, Villanueva was quoted as saying, "Who is he?" in apparent derision of his then-House counterpart Dalipe.  

The senator suddenly stopped his deprecating comments on House members after Bongalon and fellow assistant majority leader, Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong brought up in plenary Villanueva's alleged involvement in the past in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.