MONDAY I ocroBER 7,
Congressmen to senators: Stop spreading fake news on budgett
ty.DELON PORCALLA
Allies of President Duterte
in the House of Representa-
lives have called bn their co!
leagues in the Senate to stop
making innuendos on the
P4.l-trillion national budget
lot 2020.
Senators have been claim-
ing. that next year's budget
ib loaded with pork barrel
[unds.
, "Our only collective
request is that we avoid.
purveying 'fake news' and
rumors during budgei dis-
russions. The discipline and
parameters of our debates
and statements on the bud.
get are not only foi the Sen:
ate, but also for the House,"
Rep. Mike Defensor said.
The former Quezon City
:ongressmary who now rep-
resents party-list Anakalusu-
gan, issued the call after the
20r9
House tiansmitted the spend- lic and transparent debates on we are now being made the mittee, said the Duterte ad- communications that ham-
ing bill to the upper chamber the budget. poster boys of pork barrel ministration has recently per the country's economic
lait week before Congress "The Speaker, Romual- funds," Romero said. achieved the "highest ever expansion,"
went on a month-long break dez and House appropria- ,LibgfaliZg FDI percentage of GDP" in On the other hand, HB
last Friday.
'1.22'1.
tions chairman Isidro Ungab history, pushed by structural or the Foreign Invest-
....
"This way, intelligent and (Davao Citv) together with
fOfeignlnViStment' reforms and its Build Build ments Act Amendments seeks
relevant diicussioni cun b" ihe House ieadeiship did a Meanw-hile, Albay-Rep' Build program, but still lags to amend RA 7042 " delel-
achievedby both chambers," great jobfor the exLcutivg |oey Salceda is pushingforre- behind Cambodia and Viet- ing the provisions relatingl
Defensor said. iepuri*"rrt in ensuring 11ru1 forms in the country's restric- nam both ravaged by wars to 'practice of professions'
He and Capiz Rep. Fred this budget passes *i'[1t tto tive laws on-foreign dir-ect over -decades due to its from among the items listed
Castro had prdviously urged pork, no?eluy and no park- (FDI) to enable restrictive laws.- under the Foreign Investment
Sen. PanfilJlacso., t6 up6lo- ing,'; he suid.
' .investment to perform at par
thecountry The lawmaker has pre- Negative List by lowering
gize for accusing lu*mikers beputy speakfer Mikee with its Asian neighbors' sented three bills pushing employment requirement to
3f allocating unti themselves Romeio 6f pirty-iist lPac- "we need to attract more for amendments to the Pub- 15 ernployees for $100,000]
;p;;t ;;;e;t wh"., th"tu man said "it is u#air for some .foreign investors and help lic Service Act (House Bill i4vestment in small and rne-
were none. : of their senate counterparlt expand gloss dome,stic prod- 78) and the Foreign Invest- dium-sized domestic
iu"rotr, u.t anti-pork advo- to accuse them of defying ucts (GDPL" Salceda said' ments Act (HB 1221), which industries."
cate, failed to subsLntiate his a November 2013 supiem6 The organization for- E-co- he both authored, and the The Retail Trade Liberal
claims, Defensor said. Court ruling that invalidated no-mic Cooperatigl and- !e- Retail Trade Liberalization ization Act seeks to
ihu'"ot g."tt-an lauded post-enactm"ent lump' sums in velopment (oECD) said the Acf which he co-authored, to the required minimum paid
the leaderlhip of Speaker ihe spending bill." Philippines has. one of the help boost the country's FDI up capital for foreign
Alan Peter C'ayetario and "vt" nu"! worked really most restrictive laws on FDI perfornance. to the country's retail sector.
House Majority Leader Mar- hard and even went 46q61. among 10 ASEAN. members Salceda said HB 78 seeks to Compared to Vietnam,
tin Romuaide;for approving , tirne in having this GAB ap- and separately wiih 35 other "break the barriers to invest- eralization effort in the Ph
the General appropiiutio.,i Lproved so w6 can transmit countries in 2018' ments and competition in pines has made
Bill in record tiriri asieioined it-i" them the soonest, but Salceda, who chairs the certain industry sectors such bui is still not competitive
them in calling for ope.i, p.,b- instead of being commendi-'d House ways and means com- as power, energy and tele- enough, Salceda said.
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