Lawmakers Agree Bicam Meet Open to Public

Lawmakers on Thursday approved the request that the bicameral conference committee meeting that resolves the Senate and House versions of the 2014 national budget be made open to the public.

House committee on appropriation chairman Isidro Ungab, in a text message to Gma News Online, said they see no problem with the request as they have nothing to hide. “No problem. We have nothing to hide and we support transparency in all stages of the budget process,” he said. He added that he has spoken with his counterpart in the Senate, finance committee chair Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero about the issue of having an open committee meeting.

“Yes [I have spoken to him] and he is also amenable to the idea,” Ungab said. Ungab also said the bicam talks will be held in the Senate on the first day and will move to the House of Representatives on the second.

Earlier, organizers of the Million People March posed an online petition asking the debates to be open to the public, in the form of a livestream and TV coverage.

Patricia Tan, spokesperson of the Scrap Pork Network, said in her petition posted on Change.org : “Unlike the hearings in the Congress and Senate, they have always closed the doors on the public and conducted these “bicam talks” in secret. This is the public’s money and there is no reason or law that prohibits these meetings from being conducted in the open where horse trading between both [the Senate and House] will be monitored.”

Senator Chiz Escudero said in his tweeter account that the meeting will be open to the public. “I have already announced a month ago that the budget bicam will be open to the public. Sked is on Dec. 10 at 9 am here at the Senate,” Escudeo said.

Moreover, House Speaker Sonny Belmonte Jr. also said he is amenable to the idea of opening the bicam talks to the public, but pointed out that Ungab and Escudero has the final decision. “I have no objection. [But] you know this is really up to the two [chairpersons]. In so far as our panel is concerned, we are open to keeping it open,” Belmonte said in a chance interview with media members on Wednesday, Gma News Online reported.

Belmonte said he sees no reason for the budget’s passage to be delayed by opening the talks to the public. “I don’t think [it will be delayed.] I think we will be able to pass this on or before, but probably on December 18,” he said.

In a legislative process, a Bicameral Conference Committee is sometimes called to reconcile conflicting provisions of both versions of the Senate and of the House of Representatives. Conference committee submits report on the reconciled version of the bill, duly approved by both chambers. The Senate then prints the reconciled version in its enrolled form.
Source: Gma News Online