Diokno faces budget...

its members decried the Executive branch’s evasive stance over the controversial budgetary insertions in the proposed 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA) submitted by the Department of Budget Management (DBM).

Unless Diokno is able to clear the air on the issue, Suarez’s group has vowed to likewise put other members of the Duterte administration’s economic management team in the Question Hour hotseat in the exercise of their oversight powers.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s allegations that the congressional districts of Arroyo and Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. (PDP-Laban, Camarines Sur) gained a combined 14.3 billion are also expected to be tackled during the proceedings.

Diokno was summoned by the House leadership after the chamber adopted Resolution 0158 filed by Suarez which “requires the “appearance and participation” of Diokno in connection with the 2019 election budget.

But Senior Deputy Minority Leader Lito Atienza (BuhayParty-list) said Diokno will have to shed light into the accusations hurled by Lacson against Arroyo and Andaya.

“The secretary has to explain whether or not Sen. Lacson was correct or wrong in claiming that the amount allocated to the congressional district of Speaker Arroyo can be considered ‘pork barrel’ as contemplated by the Supreme Court decision on the issue,” said Atienza.

Also expected to crop up during the Question Hour proceedings is Andaya’s claim that Lacson’s colleagues in the Senate have also been granted over 11 billion for their respective infrastructure programs.

Andaya revealed that while it is true that his and Arroyo’s congressional district will get over 11-billion funding assistance for vital public works project, theirs are not the highest allocations among congressional territories.

Making a comparison of the budgetary share from the 2019 proposed budget, Andaya said Arroyo’s district is ranked 100th while his is 186th in the ranking of allocations.

Senators, according to Andaya, have also proposed allocations for projects.

He disclosed that an 18-billion allocation for a certain congressional district topped the list of supposed insertions in the 2019 budget.

“Just to clarify, ang allocation ng ating (the location of our) Speaker, she’s actually ranked about 100th. Around 99 congressmen na mas malaki po ang allocation sa kanilang distrito (have bigger allocations for their districts),” the former Budget secretary said.

But as Andaya revealed a few details of the huge appropriations for congressional districts, he pointed out that it would be fair for the Senate to likewise reveal details of additional funding for infrastructure projects proposed by senators.

“Maybe sila din magpaliwanag sa amin kung papaano nailagay doon. Kasi marunong din kaming tumingin sa budget (Maybe, they should also explain how they made the insertion.We also know how to analyze the budget),” he stated.

Andaya, who is also at the receiving end of Lacson’s criticisms, explained that his congressional district in Camarines Sur, “ranked” 186th in the budget insertion, may have gotten the lowest allocation compared to the amount congressmen in his province will get.Included among them is the congressional district of Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymond Villafuerte, who had previously been identified as among the House members who were set to benefit from the 152-billion “parked pork barrel fund” that was later re-aligned.