DOT chief spared from grilling during Senate budget deliberation

The Senate on Thursday night deemed submitted the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) budget for next year without grilling its officials on their much maligned tourism campaign. Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Francis Escudero had earlier said they would like to question Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim regarding the department’s botched “Pilipinas Kay Ganda (Philippines So Beautiful)" campaign. “Gusto ko lang malaman sa DOT magkano ba yung ginastos nila dito sa palpak na kampanya, magkano ang naubos na pera dahil akala ko ba kada piso paggagamitan natin ng tama at hindi natin sasayangin," said Escudero early Thursday. (I want to know how much the DOT spent for this failed campaign, because we’re supposed to use public funds properly and then waste them.) But during the budget deliberations later in the day, no senator questioned Lim, prompting Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III to deem the DOT budget submitted. “The slogan was pulled out and there was no allocation for that so there’s nothing to discuss," Sotto told GMANews.TV after the deliberations. “The slogan also does not have anything to do with the 2011 budget." Sotto said they would not change the DOT’s P1.6-billion budget during the period for amendments. “I don’t think we’ll change anything. Nothing seems to be wrong with it," he said. Lim, for his part, said he didn’t expect that their budget would be submitted so easily. “Di namin alam na ganito kabilis kaya masaya (We didn’t expect it to be this fast, so we’re happy)," he told reporters. He said some senators might still ask them about the failed campaign some other time, which he said he is hoping will not happen. “Natapos na, nag-resign na si Undersecretary (Vicente) Romano, dapat tapos na yung issue na yun (It’s already a non-issue. Undersecretary Romano already resigned over that)," Lim said. - GMANews.TV