MANILA,
Philippines — “Instead of focusing on the work at hand, further political
maneuverings and theatrics took the budget deliberations hostage.”
Marinduque
Rep. Lord Allan Velasco said this on Wednesday as he reminded Speaker Alan
Peter Cayetano that Oct. 14 was chosen for the speakership turnover because of
their commitment to get the budget passed on that day — “and do nothing else
that would disrupt or derail the process.”
Velasco
made the remark after the lower chamber moved to suspend the budget deliberations
until Friday, Oct. 2.
Before
the suspension, Cayetano offered to resign his post because a part of his
term-sharing agreement with Velasco was rejected.
“We
lost an entire day, and even tomorrow where you have declared that no session
will be conducted, which are crucial in meeting our timeline,” Velasco said in
a Facebook post.
“These
attacks and distractions serve no purpose other than to perpetuate what is a
purely personal agenda threatening to delay the passage of the budget. This is
the truth,” he added.
According
to Velasco, during their meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday
night, Cayetano “promised” to resign on Oct. 14.
“To
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, it was only last night when you promised to resign
on Oct. 14 when the President ordered you to honor the term-sharing agreement.
‘Ito ay usapang lalaki’,” Velasco said.
“Moreover,
the President entrusted you with the task of announcing the date of the
turnover. October 14 was chosen as the date for the turnover because we
committed to pass the budget before October 14 and do nothing else that would
disrupt or derail the process,” he added.
With
the date set, Velasco said it was “unfortunate” that the lower chamber moved to
suspend debates on the proposed budget for 2021.
“I
call on my colleagues to continue our work and pass the budget on or before
October 14. This is the commitment we’ve made before the President, and this is
our responsibility to our constituents, to deliver to them a fair and equitable
budget,” Velasco said.
This article first appeared on Inquirer
