SEN. Imee Marcos yesterday said she will push for full transparency during the bicameral meetings on the proposed 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) as she proposed the video livestreaming of the deliberations among lawmakers.
Marcos said the proceedings should be shown to the public, similar to how congressional hearings in the Senate and the House of Representatives are being done.
“Alam ko marami sa aking kasamahan ayaw niyan. Para sa akin, bakit hindi? Ang mga finance sub-committee hearings ay naka livestream, ganoon din sa plenaryo. Sa akin walang problema, okay lang ‘yun pero alam ko maraming mag o-object. Let’s try to be expeditious and at the same time transparent (I know that many of my colleagues will oppose that. But for me, why not? The finance sub-committee [budget] hearings are livestreamed. Even the sessions in the plenary are livestreamed. That won’t be a problem for me, but I know many will object. Let’s try to be expeditious and at the same time transparent),” Marcos said at the “Kapihan sa Senado” media forum.
She said showing the bicameral deliberations to the public will be a way of letting the people know how the proposed national budget is crafted and how lawmakers decide on the final spending amount.
She added this will also discourage last-minute “insertions.”
Marcos said she is drafting a set of rules on how the bicameral meetings should be done and submit it to the Senate for consideration and approval.
“Nagda-draft nga ako ng ‘love letter’ sa proseso ng bicam. Kasi nasingitan ng kung anu-ano. Nagtaka ako kung saan galing ang AKAP. Hindi natin pinagkakaitan ng ayuda ang sinuman pero isa-ayos natin para makatiyak kung sino ang nangangailangan ang mabibigyan (I am now drafting a ‘love letter’ concerning the bicam process because it [the 2024 national budget] had so many insertions, including the AKAP [DSWD’s Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program). I do not want to deprive assistance to anyone who need it but we should make sure that it will go to the intended beneficiaries),” she said.
She said the draft rules will prevent insertions from happening during the joint meeting.
She said will give copies of her proposal to Senate President Francis Escudero and Finance Committee chairperson Sen. Grace Poe.
Marcos at the same time urged members of both houses who are in-charge of handling the budgets of the different line agencies to meet ahead of the bicameral meeting to iron out the differences in their respective versions of the budget measure so there will no more be “surprises” when they formally convene.
She also expressed hopes that senators will have a caucus so they can discuss what to do with the budget of the Office of the Vice President after the House of Representatives slashed by P1.3 billion its proposed P2.03 billion budget for next year.
