Sotto says the House has caused a one-month delay on the approval of the national budget
October 08, 2020 05:08 PM
Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III says the House of Representatives has already delayed the approval of the 2021 national budget after their move of suspending its session.
Do not be misled. The HOR [House of Representatives] has delayed the budget for a whole month. No one can ever blame the Senate for this delay.
Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III said that Senate is not to be blamed if the passage of the 2021 national budget is delayed.
In a recent tweet, Sotto stated that the House of Representatives has already delayed the P4.5-trillion budget (which contains the country's COVID-19 health and economic response) for a month after the House decided to suspend its session earlier than the scheduled break on October 16.
Sotto's tweet was in response to House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's statement in a recent Facebook Live, “One day lang po ang diperensya and I hope that maging malinaw ito because kung magkakaroon po ng delay o reenactment [of the budget], (the difference is only one day, and I hope that's clear because if ever there's a delay or a reenactment [of the budget]) it will be because of the Senate not because of the House."
In the midst of the speakership squabble, the House was only able to approve the second reading of the national budget.
Members of the House were scheduled to vote for their next Speaker after Cayetano's 15-month term expires on October 14. However, due to the abrupt break, the House cannot proceed with their election, nor submit the approved spending bill to the Senate.
Sotto told reporters, “One month delayed na, hindi pa sila pasado on third reading (it's been a month, and yet they still have not passed on the third reading)."
Senator Panfilo Lacson agreed with the Senate President's statement on the possible month-long delay of the budget due to the House's congressional break which will end on November 16.
