Publicized budget deliberation urged

SOME minority lawmakers of the House of Representatives filed on Monday a resolution seeking to make public the bicameral conference committee’s deliberations of the proposed national budget, citing the need to make the budget process transparent and open to scrutiny.

Filed by Party-list Reps. France L. Castro, Arlene D. Brosas and Raoul Danniel A. Manuel, the resolution urges the chamber to open to the “public and media” the proceedings of congressmen and senators as they reconcile differences between the budget bills passed by their chambers.

The bicameral panel has historically discussed the budget bill behind closed doors, leaving a blind spot for the public to scrutinize the changes being made to the annual spending plan.

The House should also freely provide the public with the documents concerning the national budget, including the transcripts of the joint panel’s hearings.

“The lack of transparency in Bicameral Conference Committee proceedings has enabled the insertion in the budget law of provisions that were not in the versions approved by either House, and oftentimes not even discussed in the deliberations of either House, effectively circumventing proper legislative scrutiny,” a part of House Resolution (HR) No. 2067 stated.

The lawmakers cited a special provision under the 2024 budget law that allowed the National Government to siphon the unused funds of state-owned companies, such as the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

The Finance department used the budget provision as grounds to order PhilHealth and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. to transfer P89.9 billion and P110 billion, respectively, to the NG’s coffers.

“Public access to the proceedings of bicameral conference committees will serve as a deterrent against questionable insertions and ensure that discussions remain within the scope of reconciling legitimate differences between the House and Senate versions,” the resolution read.

Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches politics at the Ateneo de Manila University, said the chamber will only act on the resolution if they were keen on demonstrating their transparency.

“Greater coverage on the committee-level hearings of the government is always a good indicator of government transparency,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

“It’s there for the political and governance actors interested in what they have to say, and it’s also a means to cross-check previous public pronouncements.” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio