Belmonte to House minority: Do not boycott budget hearings

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Wednesday asked members of the House minority not to boycott hearings on the proposed budget for 2012. Belmonte said the opposition bloc should not use the issue on the delayed release of the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) – commonly known as the “pork barrel" – to boycott the hearings because most of its members have already received a portion of the fund. “I, as the Speaker, would like to appeal to them to join and be heard, (so that) their questions will be asked. Iyon lang ang sa akin. The administration has said that everything is forthcoming, so [they] not hold anybody hostage over it and so [the House] can go on with its business," he told reporters on Wednesday. House Minority Leader Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman announced Monday that all 34 minority lawmakers will not show up in budget deliberations to protest what they claimed as “uneven treatment" in the distribution of the PDAF. Lagman said that 14 of the House minority members have not yet received their PDAF a year after they requested for it. Eighteen others, meanwhile, got incomplete releases. President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday denied claims that portions of the opposition’s “pork" have been withheld. On the other hand, Belmonte denied claims by the some minority members their inputs are not being taken into account during budget hearings. “We shouldn’t be all that (onion) skinned eh. We just go ahead with the budget hearing, and as long as it is able to proceed so that whatever comments will be aired. That’s democracy at work," he said. The House appropriations committee began on Monday deliberations on the proposed P1.8-trillion “results-focused" budget for next year. The panel is scheduled to discuss the budget for the p7.2-billion budget for the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Wednesday afternoon. — LBG, GMA News