President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Alan Peter Cayetano visit Taguig on Nov. 21, 2019. ALFRED FRIAS/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday called for a special session of Congress on Oct. 13 to 16 to resume deliberations on the proposed national budget bill for 2021.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte called for the resumption of congressional deliberations “to avoid any further delays” on the bill’s passage.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday moved to pass on second reading the P4.506-trillion national budget for 2021.
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and his allies suspended plenary sessions days ahead of the congressional break listed in the legislative calendar and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco’s supposed takeover of the speakership post.
On Thursday, Duterte warned that he would intervene if House lawmakers continued with their “political games” and delay the budget’s passage.
“Gusto ko na ayusin ninyo, if and when I see that there will be a delay and it will result in the derailment of government service, I will, I said, solve the problem for you,” he said in a televised address. John Ezekiel J. Hirro