Cayetano Apologizes To Sotto

Senate President Vicente Sotto III has accepted the apology of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano over his blaming the Senate for any delay in the passage of the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for next year.

- Cecille Suerte Felipe

“Accepted (the apology) and I said we will do our best to work on the time we have as the Senate always does,” Sotto said yesterday.

He said Cayetano relayed his apology in a phone call. Sotto said the Speaker vowed to transmit the General Appropriations Bill 1 (GAB1) by Nov. 5, or three weeks behind the original schedule of Oct. 15 due to the House’s suspension of session until Nov. 16.

“Yes, he called. He promised to submit by Nov. 5 their proposed copies of the different budget books, therefore the GAB, which they will approve on third reading. I said that will help us, especially our finance chairman,” Sotto said.

Cayetano’s moving for the suspension of the session and the passage on the second reading of the budget measure was seen by critics as a ploy to prevent Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco from replacing him as a speaker by Oct. 14, based on their term sharing “gentleman’s agreement.” Velasco said Cayetano’s move was tantamount to taking the national budget hostage.