Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. on Saturday said the congressional investigation on the alleged budget irregularities involving Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno would resume on Jan. 29.
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Andaya made the statement, citing “recent developments” that last Thursday, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar finally confirmed on record the congressman’s allegation that Diokno was the mastermind behind the P75-billion insertion in the DPWH allocations for the proposed 2019 national budget.
Andaya is chairman of the House committee on appropriations and former chairman of the rules committee which investigated the alleged questionable allocations and anomalous budget practices by the Department of Budget and Management.
The Andaya-led appropriations panel will continue the probe.
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He said the House appropriations committee would give Diokno the proper forum to explain his side on the issue.
“Despite snubbing congressional hearings for three times already, we invited him once again to appear as resource person in the resumption of hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 29,” Andaya said in a statement Saturday.
“Now that this issue has been taken cognizance [of] by the DPWH, the Senate and the COA, it has become too big an issue to just pretend it does not exist. The succeeding bicam meetings on 2019 budget will surely take up this issue,” he added.
Aside from Diokno, Andaya said his committee also invited other officials of the DBM as well as representatives from Land Bank of the Philippines and the Commission on Audit for the next congressional hearing.
“We are trying to find the last remaining pieces of this multi-billion-peso jigzaw puzzle created by Secretary Diokno,” he said.
Andaya said Villar told a multimedia forum that Diokno did not notify the DPWH about the P75 billion that was added to its budget for 2019.
Villar said he came to know about the extra funding when the DBM released the National Expenditure Program, which President Rodrigo Duterte submitted to the House of Representatives in July 2018, Andaya added.
“Also last week, we got hold of a copy of Secretary Diokno’s letter to Secretary Villar dated June 14, 2018, informing him about the decision of DBM to cut the DPWH’s proposed budget for 2019 from P652 million to P480 million,” Andaya said.
The P480 million, according to Diokno, is the “final budget level to be submitted for Congressional review,” the appropriations committee chief added.
“With these twin developments, it is time for Secretary Diokno to explain fully his role in the conspiracy that stalled the congressional deliberations of the 2019 budget,” Andaya said.
READ: Diokno escapes, Andaya furious