MEMBERS of the House of Representatives on Wednesday appealed to Sen. Imee Marcos to support her issues against the P5.768-trillion 2024 national budget with documents.

“If you really want to know the answer to that, bring out the minutes of the bicam, malalaman natin,” Lanao del Norte Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo told a news conference.

He was referring to the bicameral conference committee that finalized the budget. Sen. Marcos was a member of the committee and signed its report.

“I really would like to appeal to both houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate as much as possible we keep things professional that you know the Filipino people are deserving more of the usual marites,” he said.

“Now if you want to point fingers on where certain realignments came from, get the minutes of the bicam,” he said.

Manila Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr. lamented that there have been statements and video recordings in social media that he found to be “very unprofessional.”

“Sa akin lang personally, when I watch the news, when I see mga social media, sa YouTube minsan, nakakalungkot eh may mga statements na binibitawan that’s very unprofessional. Sa aking humble opinion, we have to keep things professional e,” he said.

Dionisio said lawmakers should be respectful of each other.

“We should really speak and give our opinions cordially, maging magalang tayo sa isa’t-isa and let’s work together. Again, the President and our Speaker really want to get things done so not until such time that both houses unite at mag-usap na hindi nag-aaway, I think mahirap kasing magtrabaho ng ganyan,” he said.

“So, let’s keep it cordial, mag-respetuhan and I think things will move forward. So again, tama ‘yung sinabi ng mga colleagues natin, nasa record naman lahat ‘yun eh. So may mga sinasabing hearsay, opinyon nito, opinyon nyan, then check the minutes kung saan talaga nagkaroon ng issue,” he said.

For his part, La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega issues about the 2024 budget should have been raised and resolve when the spending measures was pending in Congress, and not now.

“Bakit ngayon lang ‘to lumalabas eh dumaan naman po lahat ‘to sa mga sa rigorous na budget process ng House and the Senate. So, I guess, kung may administrative concerns or budgetary concerns dapat na thresh out na po ‘yan sa sa mga hearings natin,” he said.

“I mean, it should have gone with the process pero anything naman po na madali naman pong magsabi ng ganito, madaling sabi ng ganyan so if it’s in the proper forum, then I guess we should talk about it para maayos yung mga different problems and concerns na ganyan,” he said.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Ryan Ponce Pacpaco