Ilonggo Senator Franklin Drilon lambasted Kabayan Representative Ron Salo for accusing him of slashing the the budget intended for the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Salo claimed that Drilon cut the budget by P2.5 billion and transferred a part of it to fund “various infrastructure projects in Iloilo,” the senator’s home province.
“It is a complete lie. Mr. Salo is a blabbermouth and a purveyor of fake news,” Drilon said.
According to the senator, a cursory check of the records would disprove the allegations made by Salo and other members of the House of Representatives.
“The journal of the Senate dated December 6, 2018 would clearly reveal that no member of the Senate slashed the budget of the SEA Games,” Drilon said.
“The P7.5 billion funding for SEA Games that was mysteriously lodged in the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs – that even the Foreign Affairs Sec. Teddy Locsin disowned – was only transferred to the Philippine Sports Commission. The third reading version of the 2019 General Appropriations Bill passed by the Senate would show that the P7.5 billion budget lodged under the Philippine Sports Commission was intact,” Drilon explained.
“It was the bicam, which members of the House of Representatives were part of, that slashed this to P5 billion. For the record, it was not I who proposed to slash it to P5 billion during the bicam,” he added.
Drilon said the current budget of the SEA Games remains at P6 billion after P1 billion was transferred from the contingent fund.
“I made transparent and publicized all my proposed amendments to the 2019 budget. If only Mr. Salo exercised due diligence, he would have saved himself from embarrassment. But that would be wishful thinking,” the senator stressed.
The Philippines is hosting this year SEA Games.IMT
