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1 TUESDAY I MARCH s'.2o19

L aw m aker s ey e tr an smittal
of 2019 budget next week
The proposed P3.7-tril- Sen. Panfilo Lacson last "I have it on good informa-
lion General Appropriations week alleged that last-minute tion that the House leader-
Bill (GAB) for 2019 may be insertions and realignments ship is still waiting for several
transmitted to Malacafiang were being made by some congressmen to finalize the
eady next week for President members of the House, ap- submission of their indi-
Dut'e*e's signahrre, a leader parently causing delays in vidual projects. This is not to
of Congress said. the transmittal of the GAB to mention that insertions and
A senior member of the Duterte's desk. realignments were made even
bicameral con-f erence commit- Senate Minoritv Leader after the bicameral rcport rati-
tee on the GAB yesterday said Franklin Prilon-tii& iI the ficatioo" the senator said in a
the Senate and the House of allegations were true, the con- statement last week.
Repr€sentatives aim to submit gressmen concemed are liable He said the last-minute
the proposed national budget for falsification o{ legislative amendrnents to the GAB tech-
on March 10 or 11. ' documents, which is a crimi- nically do not constitute
The voluminous measure nal offense. post legislation enachnent -
is reportedly still being print- "lJ trte, this is falsification barred by the Supreme Court
ed. Since the GAB originaied of legislative documents, a (SC) in a 2013 ruling - since
from the House. it will be the criminal offense punishable Duterte has not yet signed the
chamber that transmits the under Article 170 of the Re- budget measurc.
same to Malacaf,ang. vised Penal Code, by impris- He, howevet wamed the
The Senate and the House onment of four years to six insertions were a cleat abuse
ratified the proposed budget vears and a fine o{ P1.2 mil- of discretiory especially if done
last Feb. 8 after weeks of.acri- iiory" Drilcn told reporters. without the concunence of the
monious exchanges between Lacson said it was suspi' Senate, and "an utter disre-
' the two chambdrs over the cious that the GAB has yet to gard' of the SC decision, and
alleged inclusion of pork pro- be sent to Malacafiang despite even a violation of the Consii-
, visions in the measure. its ratification last month. tution. -Alexis Romero
tpAqtt -8"