House bid to allot P10B for toilets, roads blocked in Senate

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Friday the senate blocked the House of Representatives’ bid to allot P10 billion for the construction of additional toilets and roads.

“Ito ang mahabang diskusyon na nangyari dahil ang ibig ng mga kongresista ay ilagay ito sa pagpapatayo ng kubeta at kalsada habang ang Senado naman ay ipinaglaban natin ‘yung position ng DOT na ito ay tulong sa pamamagitan ng soft loans para doon sa mga maliliit na kumpanya na nagsara o nahirapan sa COVID-19 pandemic,” Drilon said in a radio interview.

“Kasama ang debate sa aming trabaho. At the end of the day, nagkasundo kami kung paano gagastusin ang pera para sa turismo. Hindi po kubeta at kalsada ang gagawin kung hindi ibibigay sa mga manggagawa na natanggal at nawalan ng trabaho at para doon sa mga kumpanya sa tourism industry,” he added.

Drilon reiterated Bayanihan 2 still allocated P10 billion assitance for the tourism industry, with P6 billion alloted as as loanable funds for small tourism players, P1 billion for infastructure, and P3 billion to assist displaced workers.

“Mayroon pong P1 billion para sa kubeta at kalsada,” he said.

The Senate ratified the reconciled version of the P165.5 billion Bayanihan 2 bill, or the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act on Thursday. The Congress, meanwhile, is expected to ratify it on Monday.

Also read: SAP included in Bayanihan 2 but limited

Meanwhile, Senator Pia Cayetano defended the House members during the bicameral meeting on Thursday.

“I would like to point out the insinuation that no one in the Senate pushed for anything for personal gain makes it appear that our counterparts in the House did. And you all know that the Speaker is my brother,” she told fellow senators, referring to Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.

“If you don’t like it, okay lang ‘yun pero let’s not naman insinuate na may masamang intention ‘yung counterparts natin [sa House],” added Cayetano, herself a former House member.

Senator Sonny Angara, chair of the finance committee in the Senate, then tried to ease the tension and acknowledged the contributions of the Congress.

“I confirm that the House made very many good interventions… and you know, the Speaker who is the brother of our colleague, if not for his intervention, we may not have broken the deadlock for the tourism. They graciously agreed despite their reservations to lodge the money in the [Small Business] Corporation,” he said.

“I was also a member of the House so I don’t think we can blame our colleagues from the other house for looking after their districts. Kasi ‘yun ang bottomline nila, unlike us we have this larger constituency,” he added.