ES to House: We are one with you in nation-building

ES Rodriguez thanks House Speaker Romualdez for endorsing OP’s budget for plenary action

THE House committee on appropriations led by Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co on Friday morning swiftly terminated in just a few minutes the deliberation on the 2023 budget of the Office of the President (OP) in the presence of Speaker Martin G. Romualdez and senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander A. Marcos.

Co, who presided the hearing, said the OP budget will enable President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to deliver on the demands to his office, especially as the world transitions from the pandemic and confronts the effects of climate change.

OP’s budget proposal for 2023 indicates how the President will “deliver his constitutional mandates as Head of State and of Government…especially during these challenging times,” he added.

“The House committee graciously acknowledges the commitment of the Office of the President proper, honoring the constitutional mandate to the co-equal branch of the government as evidenced by the presence of its key officials here today (Friday). The Constitution vests the President and the executive power and tasks him to ensure that laws that we pass in Congress, including our General Appropriations Act [GAA] are faithfully executed. The extraordinary burden of ensuring the survival of the republic which includes economic recovery lies on the shoulders of the President,” Co said.

“Ang Pangulo din po ang magtitimon sa mga departamento at mga ahensiya ng pamahalaan upang maabot ang eight-point socioeconomic agenda, lalo na ang paglikha ng trabaho at pagsugpo sa kahirapan. Again, thank you and welcome to the House of Representatives, the House of the People,” Co also said.

The 2023 OP budget is slightly higher than the 2022 OP budget of P8.182 billion.

Co said the OP budget presentation allows the House of Representatives to get guidance on the general direction of government.

“Equally important to provide us with the governance direction of the Office of the President requiring Congressional support towards our common objective – a brighter future for the Philippines and the Filipino people,” he said.

House Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd District Rep. Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe moved to terminate the hearing which was immediately seconded by lawmakers where House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan also expressed support on the proposed P9.031-billion budget of the OP under next year’s P5.268-trillion National Expenditure Program.

“By tradition of extending a parliamentary courtesy to a co-equal branch in government, I move to terminate the budget briefing of the Office of the President,” Dalipe told the panel.

Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, who was not given a chance to present the proposed OP budget following the swift termination of the budget deliberation, immediately expressed gratitude to the House leadership led by Speaker Romualdez for endorsing OP’s budget for plenary action.

“Thank you Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the Office of the President, I would just like to express our deepest sense of gratitude for your support, of course to the Speaker of the House, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez sir, to the chairman of the committee on appropriations, chairman Zaldy Co, and to the Majority Floor Leader, Congressman Mannix Dalipe, to the Minority Floor Leader, Congressman Marcelino Libanan and to all other members of the House, senior Deputy Majority Leader Sandro Marcos for supporting the proposed 2023 budget of the Office of the President,” Rodriguez said.

“And in line with the expressed instruction of His Excellency, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., you can be assured that the Office of the President is here together with you, your honors, in meeting the expectations and hopes of the more than 112 million Filipinos, which the President now leads, founded on a solid foundation of 31.5 million votes more or less in promoting the people’s welfare and upholding the interests of the nation,” Rodriguez said. “We are one with you, your honors, in nation-building. Maraming salamat po at magandang umaga.”

In another budget presentation, the House appropriations committee also heard the P18.576-billion budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Next year’s DENR proposed budget is lower than both this year’s P19.645 billion and 2020’s P20.065 billion.

Co said he expects DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, a known and respected climate change advocate, to implement climate change adaptation measures using a science-based approach on a national scale, as well as build resilient communities through a risk-sensitive and balanced development of resources.

“The Committee commends the effort of the department to increase the forest cover of our country through the Greening Program and to the successful rehabilitation of one of the major tourist destinations of the country, Boracay, including Manila Bay,” Co said.

“We look forward to more similar rehabilitation projects for other major tourist destinations to improve our tourism economy,” the House appropriations committee chair added.

Co said he hopes Yulo-Loyzaga will be able to “weave environmental policies into all development programs that support sustainable, inclusive, and long-term growth of the economy.”