Makabayan bloc wants budget bicam talks open to public

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LAWMAKERS belonging to the militant Makabayan bloc yesterday filed a resolution seeking to open the bicameral deliberations on the annual national budget to the media and the public, saying this would prevent both congressmen and senators from introducing insertions in the General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

“The lack of transparency in bicameral conference committee proceedings has enabled the insertion in the budget law of provisions that were not in the versions approved by either house, and oftentimes not even discussed in the deliberations of either house, effectively circumventing proper legislative scrutiny,” the Makabayan bloc said in House Resolution No. 2067.

The Makabayan bloc is composed of party-list Reps. France Castro (ACT), Arlene Brosas (Gabriela) and Raoul Manuel (Kabataan).

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The resolution cited as a “concrete” example of an insertion last year’s move of bicam members to amend the provisions of the 2024 GAB to amend Special Provision No. 1 on unprogrammed appropriations (UAs), which allowed government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) like Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to be tapped as funding sources.

“This basically allowed billions of pesos to be converted to UAs or diverted to the purposes (programs and projects) in the UAs, despite the fact they are ‘spoken for’ pursuant to the respective charters or governing laws of the GOCCs,” it said.

The Makabayan bloc said the insertion, despite not being in both chambers’ approved versions of the bill, led to PhilHealth being required to remit P89.9 billion in excess subsidies to the National Treasury.

Just last weekend, House leaders vowed to remain firm on retaining the P39 billion proposed budget for the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the proposed national budget for 2025 when they meet their Senate counterparts in the bicameral meetings.

Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III earlier said it would be best if the AKAP is deleted in the budget measure, saying its implementation lacks details.

Pimentel said that the House only allegedly “inserted” the P39 billion funding for the AKAP in its version of the 2025 national budget.

The resolution said the practice of the “Third Chamber” of introducing new provisions during bicameral conference meetings “undermines the democratic process and violates the principle that conference committees should limit themselves to reconciling differences between the two chambers’ versions.”

“In effect, the closed-door ‘Third House’ overrules the decisions of the Lower House and the Senate, which are public as mandated by the Constitution,” said the militant lawmakers.

They said public access to the proceedings of bicameral conference committees “will serve as a deterrent against questionable insertions and ensure that discussions remain within the scope of reconciling legitimate differences between the House and Senate versions.”

“Transparency in budget deliberations is crucial in enabling citizen participation in governance, ensuring that public funds are appropriated in accordance with the people’s needs and interests, and assuring the right of the people to hold senators and congresspersons into account for their actions during the proceedings,” the resolution said.

Meanwhile, Senate president pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada yesterday called on his colleagues to support the immediate passage of his bill calling for the abolition of the Optical Media Board (OMB), which he said has lost its legal mandate,

Estrada noted that there are no more film pirates that the OMB can run after due to the “evolution of the digital technology.”

“So, I think that was your main function before, yung OMB, hulihin lahat yung mga namimirata ng mga pelikula. So, ano na nga, what is now the duty or the function of this agency aide from arresting pirates? (So, I think that was your main function before, to arrest all film pirates. But what are the duties or functions of the agency now aside from arresting pirates?),” Estrada said as the Senate deliberated on the OMB’s proposed budget for next year.

Sen. Mark Villar, who defended the agency’s budget, said OMB continues to protect and promote intellectual property rights through the exercise of its regulatory, enforcement and quasi-judicial functions.

Villar said the OMB has also partnered with major telecommunications companies to educate the public against the proliferation of illicit streaming devices in both online and retail markets.

He added that the agency also monitors the importation of storage devices “whether or not they allow to come into the country, that’s a majority what the work and checking for piracy.”

“If there’s a bill because this agency was created by law, if there’s a bill that will also update and refresh the OMB, I think that’s something that we can support and look at,” Villar said.

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Sen. Ramon Revilla, who once headed the OMB, said abolishing the OMB will lead to its plantilla position employees to lose their jobs.

Estrada said he filed Senate Bill No. 1904, which calls for the abolition of the OMB , since it no longer performs its primary mandate.

“Kasi for me, wala nang function itong OMB. And I hope you will also agree with my position being the former chair of the OMB (For me, the OMB has no more function. And I hope you will agree with my position as former chair of the OMB),” Estrada said.

He said the 52 employees can be absorbed by the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

Also yesterday, Sen. Cynthia Villar urged the Department of Housing Settlement and Urban Development to reconsider its plan of constructing some 3.2 million medium-rise condominium units for the poor, saying the poor will not be able to afford the amortization of P2,600 a month for 30 years.

Villar said the construction of condo units to solve the country’s housing backlog is not the solution.

Instead, she said the DHSUD may want to give the poor an option of either owning a condo unit or give them lands which she said will only have a monthly amortization of P500 for 30 years.

“They should be given the option to buy land or the condominium,” Villar said as the Senate tackled the DHSUD’s P6.3 billion proposed budget for 2025. – With Raymond Africa

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