Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno was a no show anew at Friday’s congressional inquiry into the alleged budgetary irregularities at his department but no punitive measure was taken by congressmen who claimed they felt offended.
But Diokno’s presence at the hearing may not be required at all if the Department of Public Works and Highways, pictured by lawmakers as the “victim” in the P75-billion insertion into the department’s budget, was to be believed.
DPWH Undersecretary Catalina Cabral told members of the House Committee on Appropriations that there is nothing wrong with the inclusion by the Department of Budget and Management of an additional P75-billion infrastructure allocation to the DPWH budget even without prior knowledge of its officials.
Grilled by congressmen at the resumption of the House of Representatives inquiry into several budgetary controversies, Cabral said the alleged “insertion” made by DBM in the 2019 DPWH allocation is part of a “normal budget process.”
Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., appropriations panel chairman, said Diokno will be given another chance next week to show up and explain his side over allegations that his department committed irregularities in the budget process by putting an additional P75 billion into the P480-billion DPWH budget for 2019.
Thus, no move to cite Diokno in contempt was made by committee members. (Ben R. Rosario)
