Cayetano gang falters anew
Teves said Defensor had only wanted to antagonize the top House leader who was chosen by the great majority when Cayetano refused to honor his word made in front of Duterte on the term-sharing agreement for the House leadership
They’ve failed again.
Allies of ousted House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano were once more on the receiving end of amusement and criticisms
from their Congress peers after their attempt to lure the present House leader into a debate over the supposed cuts on the military’s Pension and Gratuity Fund (PGF) fizzled out before launch.
Anakalusugan Representative Mike Defensor, Cayetano’s staunch supporter, on Monday accused House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco of slashing the budget for the 2021 PGF.
Defensor argued that Velasco allowed the House to cut the PGF’s budget from P172.9 billion to P152.9 billion despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s instruction to Congress to prioritize the pension system for members of the military and other uniformed personnel.
Deputy Speaker Arnie Teves said Defensor had only wanted to “antagonize” the top House leader who was chosen by the great majority when Cayetano refused to honor his word made in front of Duterte on the term-sharing agreement for the House leadership.
“The game plan was to make Velasco look bad in the eyes of President Duterte by attacking the Speaker on an issue very close to the Chief Executive’s heart,” Teves said.
“Until now, they (Cayetano’s group) still (cannot) seem to accept that Speaker Velasco is the one chosen by President Duterte to lead the House,” Teves added.
Senior Deputy Speaker Salvador “Doy” Leachon also slammed the latest failed strike by the Cayetano camp against the House leader.
The game plan was to make Velasco look bad in the eyes of President Duterte by attacking the Speaker on an issue very close to the Chief Executive’s heart.
“Their unfounded allegations against Speaker Velasco boomeranged to them when it turned out the currtent problems faced by uniformed retirees was brought about by the more than P70 billion deducted from the 2020 PGF budget during Cayetano’s time,” Leachon said.
His statement came after Deputy Speaker Isidro Ungab responded to Defensor’s allegation to reveal that the bigger cut in the PGF was made during Cayetano’s leadership of the House.
Ungab accused Cayetano of manipulating the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA) which resulted in budget cuts totaling P209 billion, including the more than P70 billion slashed from PGF.
Ungab was the chair of the House Committee on Appropriations when Congress approved in 2019 the P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020. Cayetano was still the Speaker then.
“I think this is the proper time to reveal what truly happened, everything that has happened. The (budget) that was finalized by the bicameral conference committee report was not anymore the chairman (of the Committee on Appropriations),” Ungab claimed.
The bicameral version of the national budget, he alleged, was finalized by Cayetano and former Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte in the Office of the Speaker.
“I was enraged by this cut because I’m also a soldier. I’m an army colonel reservist. That’s why I am happy when I was ousted (then) because I cannot accept their scheme,” Ungab stated.