Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito said Thursday that the Senate has requested the Commission on Audit (COA) to furnish lawmakers with a list of flood control projects identified in its ongoing fraud audits as fraudulent or substandard.
Ejercito, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, said in an ambush interview that the information would help the chamber decide which projects should continue and which ones should be discontinued.
“We asked them for their cooperation as we resumed the flood control projects,” he said.
He said senators need the audit findings to distinguish projects that can still be completed from those that should no longer be pursued.
“We would need a list of projects sa investigation nila that are fraudulent or substandard para at least alam natin kung which projects can be completed, yung pwede ituloy at hindi pwede ituloy.”
Senate seeks clearer rules on confidential funds
Ejercito also disclosed that the Senate has sought clarification from government agencies regarding the joint circular covering confidential and intelligence funds.
The request comes amid controversies surrounding the use of such funds, with lawmakers considering clearer rules and additional safeguards to strengthen accountability in their utilization.
Budget hearings face scheduling challenges
On the Senate’s proposal to conduct budget hearings simultaneously with plenary sessions, Ejercito said the setup could start as early as next week.
He explained that concerned government agencies still have to be notified of the arrangement while many of them are also participating in budget deliberations at the House of Representatives.
The senator described the current legislative calendar as particularly difficult because impeachment proceedings, regular plenary sessions, and budget hearings are taking place at the same time.
“Very, it’s really a challenge,” he said.
“Extraordinary talaga itong time na ito because of the impeachment and the plenary and the ongoing budget hearings.”
Ejercito said he had asked committee vice chairs to follow, whenever possible, the schedules that will be released by the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) or the Senate Finance Committee.
He acknowledged that senators could be required to move rapidly from budget hearings to plenary sessions if an urgent vote is called.
The senator clarified that the simultaneous scheduling would apply to the Finance Committee because of the unusual circumstances confronting the Senate.
He said he had also raised concerns that the proposed nearly two-week marathon for the impeachment proceedings could have a substantial impact on the chamber’s budget deliberations.
“Dalawa yung choice natin, tapusin yung impeachment or magka-reenacted budget tayo,” he said.
Ejercito said senators are now working on a schedule that would allow the budget hearings to proceed alongside the impeachment proceedings and regular plenary sessions.
He stressed that the Senate also wants to avoid operating under a reenacted national budget.
“We do not want a reenacted budget as well,” Ejercito said.