Spox of House of Representatives Says Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero Should Answer Questions
House of Representatives spokesperson Atty. Princess Abante spoke on Senate President Chiz Escudero over the budget amendment issue.
Both Speaker Martin Romualdez and Senate President Chiz Escudero managed to remain their respective posts in the legislative chambers. Escudero gained the backing of 18 senators which led to a 19-5 voting against Sen. Tito Sotto over the Senate presidency.
However, undeniably, Escudero recently faced a lot of issues and accusations. Aside from being criticized over the Senate supposedly delaying the impeachment process of Vice President Sara Duterte, he is also surrounded by questions over the alleged multi-billion budget amendment.
The issue was triggered by the closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage that showed Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero entering the House of Representatives at night in late November 2024 during the Bicameral Conference Committee deliberations on the 2025 national budget.
Escudero claimed that he was there to ensure that the staff of the bicam is proceeding without problems. However, there are issues and accusations of an alleged budget insertion of P150 billion linked to the Senate President.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero tagged the issue against him as allegedly a mere “demolition job” and linked the House of Representatives in the accusations that he made a P150-billion budget amendment in the proposed 2025 national budget.
Recently, House spokesperson Atty. Princess Abante spoke on the claim of Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero over the multi-billion alleged budget amendment. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the spokesperson of the lower chamber raised questions as to why they are alleged always blamed by the Senate Chief.
“Bakit kami? Bakit kami ang may kasalanan? Ang tanong ay tinatanong kay Senate President Chiz. Bakit po sa amin po ibinabato ang tanong? Bakit ‘pag may mga criticism sa kanya ay tinataasan niya ng kilay ang House of Representatives?” Abante said.
Based on the report, the House Spokesperson suggested that it would be better if Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero will just address the questions to him instead of blaming the lower chamber. According to her, personally, she cannot comment on the CCTV issue as she was not yet part of the lower chamber then.
“Siguro ‘yung tanong, bakit nga siya nandito? Kung tungkol ‘yan sa bicam, kasi ang Speaker hindi naman po nakialam sa bicam ng budget,” the House spox said.
Recently, Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero claimed he will file a bill barring the relatives of public officials from being government contractors and suppliers.