7 days ago
Romualdez seeks to allow watchdogs participate in budget deliberations
Speaker Martin Romualdez formalized Thursday his call to open the national budget deliberations to watchdogs and other civil society organizations by filing House Resolution 94.
Under the resolution, bonafide people's organizations will be formally accredited and invited to actively participate as official non-voting observers in the deliberations of the House committee on appropriations and its sub-committees in the crafting of the national budget for 2026 and in all succeeding annual General Appropriations deliberations.
Likewise, the resolution provides that the House committee on appropriations, in consultation with the Committee on People's Participation, will draft appropriate guidelines to determine eligibility, accreditation procedures, and the scope of participation of such organizations, consistent with existing laws and rules of the House.
'Let this resolution affirm the commitment of the House of Representatives to uphold democratic governance, participatory budgeting, and inclusive national development,' the resolution read.
Romualdez co-authored House Resolution 94 with his wife, Tingog party-list Rep. Yedda Romualdez, and their son, also Tingog party-list Rep. Andrew Julian Romualdez.
The other author is Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre.
Earlier, lawmakers from the House and the Senate also filed a joint resolution opening all bicameral conference committee deliberations on the national budget to the public, conducted in person or through digital live streaming.
Likewise, the joint resolution requires the bicameral conference panel to produce a matrix comparing the differences between the House of Representatives' and the Senate's versions of the bill, and how these differences were resolved.
Authors of the Open Bicam Resolution in the House include: ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima, Albay Rep. Krisel Lagman, Dinagat Islands Rep. Arlene Bag-ao, and Akbayan party-list Reps. Chel Diokno, Perci Cendaña, and Dadah Ismula.
The Senate counterpart of the joint resolution is authored by Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Senators Panfilo Lacson, Risa Hontiveros, Migz Zubiri, Loren Legarda, Francis Pangilinan, and Bam Aquino. Aquino and Pangilinan are the only senators from the majority bloc who signed on the Open Bicam Joint Resolution.
'The President mentioned about flood control projects bypassing the legitimate process, and we want the budget process to be transparent and accountable. This [Joint Resolution] is in response to the President's call for good governance and fighting corruption during his SONA,' Lagman told reporters.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
