Solons. . .

In September, Andaya said he and Arroyo met President Duterte in Malacañang to get a clear signal about the proposal to abolish the Road Board.

Andaya clarified that the measure was not intended to abolish the Road Board, but to limit the controlling authorities of funds from seven-man to three-department, namely, the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Transportation (DOTr), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

“I got to talk to the President personally on the matter. Secretary Diokno is just assuming. This is not the time to second-guess the President. Now is the time for Secretary Diokno to talk to the President and come clean on the issue. He should stop giving alternative facts. He should stop blind-siding the President,” he said.

Reconsider

MEANWHIlE, Andaya said he still hopes that Diokno will reconsider his decision not to appear in the hearings to be conducted by the House Rules Committee on the DBM’s allegedly questionable allocations in the national budget, as he has a lot of explaining to do.

In the proposed 2019 national budget, for instance, Andaya said the House discovered recently that the DBM allocated more than P325 million for infrastructure projects in Casiguran, Sorsogon. These projects were included in the P75 billion inserted by the DBM in the NEP submitted to Congress.

“Interestingly, the P325-million new projects in Casiguran are part again of the Flood Control Program. These include the Himaoyon Flood Control [P75 million]; lungib Seawall and Embankment [P80 million]; Somal-ot Seawall and Embankment [P100 million]; Cagpagol River Control [P45 million]; and Suji River Control [P25 million],” he said.