Arroyo won’t give zero budget to opposition

LAWMAKERS from the opposition or who dislike House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not have to worry about getting a drastic cut in their budget or even none under her leadership.

“No. No. No. I have seen the list of zero budget. Everybody will be given a budget as a gesture of goodwill,” Arroyo, in an ambush interview on Friday, said in English and Filipino.

“I was supposed to make a proper announcement but I have already said it; and almost everybody was against it but as a gesture of goodwill, they will not be given zero,” she added.

The House Speaker, who is a congressional representative of Pampanga, was at the turnover of Watermaster to the local government of Calumpit, Bulacan to ad-

Arroyo reiterated that her role as a speaker is “mainly” two-fold — “to carry out the legislative agenda of President [Rodrigo] Duterte” and to “help congressmen who serve their constituents especially their most immediate needs.”

“That’s to carry out the second function that I see as a function of a speaker — to help the congressmen serve their most immediate needs. That’s why I won’t give zero budget even to those congressmen who don’t like me at all,” Arroyo added.

The House Speaker also said she would not allow herself to be distracted if people misinterpret her activities as aiming for a bigger role.

“I can’t help if I do my duty people will interpret it differently. I can’t be distracted by that. I have to focus. That’s why from the beginning I talked about those two important functions and you can see that everything I’ve done has been consistent with what I say. Everything I’ve done,” she said.

Arroyo, who replaced Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez as House speaker, got 184 votes with 12 abstentations during the voting after the State of the Nation Address of President Duterte on July 23.

Alvarez earlier said that his statement that lawmakers opposed to federalism would receive zero budgets was just a joke.

Meanwhile, when asked about the minority row, Arroyo said, “That’s a matter for them to decide. Let them work that out.”

Arroyo said her primary concern was moving the legislation forward, and that by staying away from those concerns, they were able to get the bicam on the coco levy, close the

the issue on the zero budget.

According to House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya, her order was for all districts to have funds.

“All districts should have funds. That is the clear directive of Speaker GMA). Appropriations proposed by the executive for projects and programs in a congressional district represented by a non-majority coalition member will not be drastically cut or reduced to zero,” Andaya said in English and Filipino.

Andaya said, based on Arroyo’s word, there was also the possibility of augmentation if funds were found to be lacking.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, who leads the House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations, would make sure that Arroyo’s directive would be followed, Andaya said.