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WEDI{ESDAY, FEBRUARY
5, 2OI9
Senate caucus to review budget bicam results today
THE SENAIE will caucus today, Feb. 6, to
discuss the final provisions in the proposed
P3.757 tdllion nationalbudget for 2019 t}lat the
tricameral conference cofunittee is expected to
harrc reconciled and approled on ttte same day.
Senate President Vicente C, Sotto III
called the caucus during session on Mofiday
evening after Senator Panfilo M. Lacson, a
member ofthe budget bicameral committee,
asked whether senators lr'ill be given the op-
portunity to review the contents of the final
version of the budget bill before ratification.
The finance comrnittee chair, Sen. Loren B.
L€gard4 said earlier during session that tlere
will be a final bicameral conference cormittee
hearing on Wednesday moming on tfie budget
bill, with ratification targeted for Friday, Feb. 8.
A small-gcoup bicameral meetinghas also been
. convened as per Usual Congless practice.
Later in the evening Senate session after
Ms. Legarda left the plenary, Majority Lead-
er Juan Miguel R Zubiri said Ms. Legarda
relayed to him that the Senate contingent
to the bicameral conference committee is
scheduled to meet on Friday morning, so the
ratification of the budget bill could come by
the afternoon of tiat day.
Congress adjourns session on Feb.6,
Wednesday, but the legislative calendar aI-
Iows for an extended session until Feb, 8.
Session will resume between May 20 and
June Tbefore the 17tr'Con$ess ends.
"So it is the business-as-usual practice
that on hiday, we'll just be given the copyof
the bicam(eral) report, It is as good as being
routed. That is whai we're trying to avoid
because we want to be accorded of the op-
portunity to review first the coltents of the
bicam(eral) report before it is routed at least
to the members of the bicameral confer-
ence committee of the Senate, meaning the
Senate panel. Otherwise, we wouldn't have
an]rmore time to read what's contained in
thatdocument," Sen- Parfilo M. Lacson said.
Mr. Sotto then called the caucus in re-
sponse to Mr. Lacson's concerns.
"The Majority Leader and the Secretariat
are hereby directed to call an all-senators
caucus at 2 p.m., Wednesday in the Senate
President's conference room. Make sure
that the chairman of the committee of Fi-
nance is present" Mr. Sotto said.
Ms. Legarda said earlier in Monday ses-
sion that a "breaLthlough" has been reached
between the Senate and House panels on t}e
2019 budget. She added that the technical staff
ofboth chambers ofCongress are Vorking on
the fire print and the detaits" ofthe budget bitl.
" PACc stf6rr
Meanwhile, Mr. Lacson is also appealing
to President Rodigo R. Duterte to use his
Veto powers to remove the "pork" inserted
by lawmakers in the 2019 national budget.
"Mr. President, you have displayed your
strong politicai will on several occasions.
This time, use your line-item veto power
over tle 2019 appropriations measure by re-
moving a-[ t]re "pork" inserted by lawmakers
who are incorrigibly insatiable and simply
'beyond redemption "'he said on Twitter on
Tuesday, as issued in a slalement.
Both chambers of Congress are still rec-
onciling their versions of the 2019 budget,
which has been delayed by amendments to
the measure. Legislators have been accused
of "i[serting" allocations in the budget,
which Mr Lacson alleges is "pork."
The Senate has said that its budget re-
alignments are "institutional amendments"
brought about by government agencies' re-
quests for additional allocations. Meanwhile,
the House of Representatives maintained
that the allocation for congressional districts'
proj ects was itemized in the budget bill, ulike
the previous system before the 2013 Supreme
Court (SC) ruled the previous Priority Devel-
opment Assistance Fund (PDAF) system as
unconstitutional. - Camiue A- A$rinaldo