Manila Bulletin
Sotto smirks at Andaya's letter to Executive Secretary Medialdea, calls it 'palusot'
Sotto smirks at Andaya's letter to Executive Secretary Medialdea, calls it 'palusot'
Sotto smirks at Andaya's letter to Executive Secretary Medialdea, calls it 'palusot'
Published Apr 3, 2019 09:33 pm
By Vanne Elaine Terrazola
Senate President Vicente Sotto III downplayed the letter of House appropriations committee chairman Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea defending the Lower Chamber's realignments in the enrolled 2019 budget.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III
(CZAR DANCEL / MANILA BULLETIN) Sotto dismissed as another "palusot" (excuse) Andaya's explanation that a traditional omnibus motion attached in the bicameral committee report on the proposed budget authorized the House to make not only corrections, but also adjustments in the General Appropriations Bill in preparing its printed copy. In insisting that their realignments were "fully constitutional", Andaya said Sotto's "strong reservations" in approving the GAB was unnecessary as it cannot interfere with the President's veto power over the budget. But Sotto chose to stick with his accusation that the House made post-bicameral realignments in the budget bill. "Omnibus motion only applies to them not the entire Congress. Palusot lahat yan (All those are excuses). Bottom line is they touched something they shouldn't have AFTER RATIFICATION," the Senate leader stressed in his statement issued Wednesday afternoon. "What they did affected their colleagues that’s why they complained to us aside from the fact that LBRMO (Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office of the Senate) saw a red flag," he added. Despite engaging in a word war versus Andaya over the 2019 budget, Sotto said "all their talks are now water under the bridge" since the GAB is already with President Duterte. Sotto has urged Duterte to veto the House's P75 billion worth of "unconstitutional" adjustments in the GAB, attaching a 157-page list of the supposed post-ratification realignments. Earlier, he said it was Medialdea who asked for the enumeration of the realignments, which, according to him, only goes to show that the Chief Executive will consider his appeal. Sotto maintained that the Senate only "exercised its power to scrutinize and challenge what is spurious in the budget." "It also proves that the Senate is still and will remain independent," he added. Senators were optimistic that Duterte will side with the Senate and reject the House realignments. But Sotto said the Senate, still, would let the President decide on the enrolled budget bill. READ MORE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/04/03/sotto-tells-congressmen-to-also-ask-duterte-for-a-veto-of-senate-realignments/
Senate President Vicente Sotto III(CZAR DANCEL / MANILA BULLETIN) Sotto dismissed as another "palusot" (excuse) Andaya's explanation that a traditional omnibus motion attached in the bicameral committee report on the proposed budget authorized the House to make not only corrections, but also adjustments in the General Appropriations Bill in preparing its printed copy. In insisting that their realignments were "fully constitutional", Andaya said Sotto's "strong reservations" in approving the GAB was unnecessary as it cannot interfere with the President's veto power over the budget. But Sotto chose to stick with his accusation that the House made post-bicameral realignments in the budget bill. "Omnibus motion only applies to them not the entire Congress. Palusot lahat yan (All those are excuses). Bottom line is they touched something they shouldn't have AFTER RATIFICATION," the Senate leader stressed in his statement issued Wednesday afternoon. "What they did affected their colleagues that’s why they complained to us aside from the fact that LBRMO (Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office of the Senate) saw a red flag," he added. Despite engaging in a word war versus Andaya over the 2019 budget, Sotto said "all their talks are now water under the bridge" since the GAB is already with President Duterte. Sotto has urged Duterte to veto the House's P75 billion worth of "unconstitutional" adjustments in the GAB, attaching a 157-page list of the supposed post-ratification realignments. Earlier, he said it was Medialdea who asked for the enumeration of the realignments, which, according to him, only goes to show that the Chief Executive will consider his appeal. Sotto maintained that the Senate only "exercised its power to scrutinize and challenge what is spurious in the budget." "It also proves that the Senate is still and will remain independent," he added. Senators were optimistic that Duterte will side with the Senate and reject the House realignments. But Sotto said the Senate, still, would let the President decide on the enrolled budget bill. READ MORE: https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/04/03/sotto-tells-congressmen-to-also-ask-duterte-for-a-veto-of-senate-realignments/