THE Senate yesterday welcomed the proposal to have an “open bicam” so the public can closely monitor and scrutinize the budget process.
Senate secretary Renato Bantug said the budget bicam is a “joint undertaking” of both houses of Congress, thus they have the shared responsibility to ensure the process “is open and transparent, consistent with the constitutional precept that public office is a public trust.”
Bantug said the Senate has long institutionalized transparency by inviting members of the media to cover the bicam meeting on the General Appropriations Bill, although the coverage is limited to the opening and closing ceremonies of the bicam.
“Calls to increase transparency in the bicam are always welcome. The Senate is open to serious proposals that will enhance public access and understanding of the crafting of the national budget. We likewise welcome public scrutiny and involvement in the budget process,” Bantug said.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he has always “fought” for an open bicam on the budget process to the public, or at least to accredited non-government organizations, civil society organizations, and the media.”
He said having a law for full transparency in the budget process is one of his top priority bills that he will file as the 20th Congress officially started yesterday.
“That being said, I am hopeful that such transparency will materialize in the 20th Congress, as House members led by Speaker Martin Romualdez have voiced support for the opening of the bicam deliberations to the public,” Lacson said in a statement.
Senate minority leader Risa Hontiveros, in a press conference, said that was the “best suggestion” she heard in a long time from another government official (Romualdez) as she has been pushing for the open bicam in past budget deliberations.
She hopes that the Senate leadership will positively respond to the proposal.
Romualdez, in a statement on Friday last week, said he fully supports calls to institutionalize a transparent budget process by opening the bicameral deliberations to the public.
He said livestreaming the bicam proceedings for real-time access by citizens and stakeholders would help make the budget process more open to public scrutiny.
The #OpenBicam campaign, which is gaining traction among reform advocates, is pushing for the full disclosure of the bicameral conference committee deliberations.
