INDEED, yes. How come Davao del Norte Representative Pantaleon Alvarez did not question any or all aspects of the proposed national budget for 2025 when it was deliberated in the plenary of the Lower House if he saw anything questionable in the figures and the processes? Why question only now that a petition to declare the new General Appropriations Act (GAA) as unconstitutional is filed at the Supreme Court?
Alvarez and his co-complainants are also strongly denying that their filing of the case against Speaker Martin Romualdez and two other congressmen is politically motivated despite its timing with the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
And by the way, assuming that indeed there were blanks in the copy of the budget attached to the bicameral report and later on filled out with huge money figures in the enrolled bill eventually forwarded to Malacanang for the President’s signature, the question is, “Did the alleged amounts supplied in the blanks bloat the total of the approved appropriation?
Was not the approved budget by the bicameral committee substantially reduced by over 90 billion pesos from what was proposed by Malacañang? We really do not have any idea if the former Speaker who was ousted from his post courtesy of someone familiar to him, bothered to look into this aspect.
Of course this early we already see some impediments for the court (or is it the Sandigang Bayan?) to deliberate on the Alvarez charge. We are certain that the Supreme Court will tackle the same issue when it deliberates on the Constitutionality of the GAA for 2025 now raised for its ruling.
As we said in an earlier column, none of the lower courts, including the Sandigang Bayan, will attempt to pre-empt the Supreme Court of the land. And Congressman Alvarez who is himself a lawyer, as well as his fellow complainants surely know about this.
We can only hope that his group will attain its real objective in filing the case against the Speaker and company. They’ll surely be able to redeem themselves.
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Now, the campaign period for senators and party-list representatives is officially on. Many social media influencers/vloggers are on top of their voices praising to high heavens or destroying to the max the candidates they are working for or against.
Unfortunately, one vlogger was blasting at an apparently wrong person, a senator who is not even a reelectionist. We are certain though that his real targets are those running in the line-up of former President Rodrigo Duterte, specifically television host Willie Revillame, and actor Philip Salvador. He could also be hitting at first-timer senatorial candidates Hinlo and Apollo Quiboloy. But he could be sparing lawyers Jimmy Bondoc, Vic Rodriguez, and Raul Lambino.
Of course, we agree with that vlogger that Revillame and Salvador should not have dived immediately into the lawmaking arena, what with their background as entertainers. They should not have followed the footsteps of Sen. Robin Padilla who makes himself a laughing stock in the halls of the Senate.
The two should not have “idolized” Senator Lito Lapid and Sen. Bong Revilla, or former Senator Manny Pacquiao. While the three members of the Upper Chamber are showing some noticeable participation in Senate deliberations in their incumbency, still they are far from being at par with the senators of old.
Lapid though had some experiences in governance when he was governor of Pampanga while Revilla and Pacquiao endeavored to study governance responsibilities in accredited schools’ programs. It is just unfortunate that Padilla had not attempted to acquire some skills in lawmaking; not even in learning the protocols in the Upper Chamber deliberation.
Thus, it is our take that Padilla’s case and his apparent lack of a lawmaker’s required skills are pulling down the chances of some of the candidates of his PDP-Laban Party, including those deserving and highly qualified.
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With Karlo Nograles battling former President and long-time Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte for the position of city mayor, many are hoping that the contest this coming May midterm polls will be exciting.
Yes, it’s been years since the electoral contest for mayor of the city was exciting. If we remember right it was during the first local election after the takeover of the late President Corazon Aquino. The candidates then were the late Zafiro Respicio, then OIC Mayor; Rodrigo R. Duterte, then OIC Vice Mayor, and the late Jun Pala, who many believe was running as a “spoiler.” It was a political derby many expected Respicio to handily trounce Duterte, he being the candidate of the administration. The result though was the reverse. Duterte won and from thence on he never looked back winning all the succeeding elections broken only when his first 3 terms ended and he ran for Congressman. His nemesis then was either known as clearly not in his class, and some considered “token.”
Now Karlo, while he is the national administration candidate, is considered the underdog running against the former President. But his youth, educational qualification, and experience as a government servant could help him pull a surprise.
Can he bring back the long-lost excitement in the city’s mayoral election? In the words of the late Davaoeno Sen. Landring Almendras, “Let us to see.”
