February 6th, 12:04am February 6th, 8:37am Mario J. Mallari

President Rodrigo Duterte practically told both houses of Congress to just work on the passage of the 2019 budget, shut up and just let Malacañang take action if the House continues to derail the fund legislation.

“Do not preempt the President,” was Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea’s curt response to Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s suggestion to the President to use his veto power on line items believed to have been inserted with extra expenses, dubbed “pork barrel,” in the proposed national budget.

Lacson on Tuesday morning took to Twitter and urged the President to use his “line-item veto power” in the proposed budget to scratch the “insertions” made by lawmakers whom he called “incorrigibly insatiable” and “beyond redemption.”

Mr President, you have displayed your strong political will on several occasions. This time, use your line-item veto power over the 2019 appropriations measure by removing all the “pork” inserted by lawmakers who are incorrigibly insatiable and simply “beyond redemption”.

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) February 5, 2019

“Let us not preempt the President,” Medialdea said in a short reply when sought to comment on Lacson’s statement.

But the House said it will extend session until Friday to assure the ratification of the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Congress will take a leave for the 90-day election break.

House Secretary General Dante Roberto Maling confirmed the House will extend its session which will include the calling of the roll of members.

Along with the 2019 General Appropriations Bill, they will also take up bills on second and third reading before they end the session.

House Appropriations chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. also said the reenacted budget will no longer continue as he vowed to pass a new one as earlier promised.

“All talks of a reenacted budget are baseless. The 2019 national budget will be ready for the President’s signature next week,” the House leader said.

“The House of Representatives is sticking to the Wednesday target of approving the Bicameral Conference Report on the GAA (General Appropriations Act) for 2019. At this point, we are still on target,” he stated.

President Duterte earlier had expressed his disappointment over the delay in the passage of the 2019 budget as lawmakers squabble over “pork barrel.”

Lacson called the Chief Executive’s dismay over the budget impasse as understandable as the proposed P3.757 trillion fund is allegedly held “hostage” by lawmakers.

Medialdea relayed President Duterte’s concern over the extended budget deadlock as it endangers the administration’s various projects, particularly the “Build, Build, Build” program.

Currently, the government is operating on a reenacted budget.

“He has good reason to be dismayed. The 2019 national budget is being held hostage by pork insertions,” Lacson said.

Lacson alleged that each member of the House of Representatives stands to receive P160 million in “pork barrel” under the proposed national budget.

But he also said some senators have P23 billion worth of individual amendments, allotted mostly to flood control, dredging and other questionable projects.

He challenged all lawmakers to make public their respective amendments to the budget as he did. Lacson revealed that he made more than P30 billion institutional amendments to the national budget.

Lacson admitted that his strong position against “pork barrel” is among the factors that delay the budget measure.

“I may have contributed to a great extent to the delay but I don’t regret it,” Lacson said.

Lacson vowed to continue his advocacy against “pork barrel.”

“It’s easier for me to just fold my arms, do nothing and simply watch the ‘pork’ have its way in the budget measure. Question is, will I be happy? Will I have peace of mind knowing that I would be remiss of my sworn duty as an elected senator of the Republic. The answer for me is obvious. So here we are,” he said.

The Supreme Court declared in 2013 the pork barrel or the Priority Development Assistance Fund as unconstitutional.

Lacson said Senate President Vicente Sotto III called for an all-senators caucus today apparently to address the budget issue.

Andaya is pointing his fingers again to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), alleging that it is keeping its “pork” in its lump-sum savings in 2018.

“As we pass the 2019 budget this week, though, all this talk of pork is useless unless we see the whole picture. The House conferees have demanded to see the lump-sum savings of the DBM for 2018,” he said.

“We knew from the beginning it would not be granted, for that is where the DBM pork lies.

Documents in our possession show that for 2017, a total of P370 billion was generated in savings. This amount was at the full disposal of Sec. (Benjamin) Diokno,” he added.

He reiterated they are knowledgeable of the amount of the 2018 savings which he described as higher and more than enough to sway the outcome of the 2019 elections.

On the other hand, Senate Committee on Finance Chair Loren Legarda disclosed last Monday that she will meet again with Andaya to finalize the report and be able to ratify it on Friday.

She said they are working on the refinement and details of the budget which became the point of contention between the two Houses in the previous proceedings of the bicameral conference committee.