📷: House Speaker Martin Romualdez
House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep.-elect Antonio Tinio welcomed the statement of Speaker Martin Romualdez supporting greater transparency in the bicameral conference committee proceedings for the national budget. The lawmakers, however, urged that this commitment must translate into genuine openness and accountability, and not just serve as another “photo opportunity” as experienced in previous years.
“We welcome Speaker Romualdez’s statement that the bicameral conference on the national budget will be open to the public. Transparency in the budget process is crucial to restoring public trust, ensuring that every peso is spent for the welfare of the people, not for pork barrel or political patronage,” Rep. France Castro said.
“Taun-taon nating pinapanawagan na gawing transparent ang bicam pero sa aktwal na proseso, napakaraming kulang sa tunay na pagsisiwalat ng mga detalye. Dapat hindi lang televised o livestreamed ang bicam; dapat malinaw at kumpleto ang impormasyon tungkol sa lahat ng amendments at insertions na ginagawa, lalo na sa mga pondong kritikal para sa serbisyong panlipunan,” Castro added.
Rep.-elect Antonio Tinio stressed, “Transparency is not just about opening the doors or putting cameras in the room. It means providing full public disclosure of all bicameral amendments, the rationale behind each change, and their impact on key services like education, health, and social welfare. Anything less is simply for show.”
“Hindi dapat mauwi sa palabas o photo op lang ang transparency. Ang kailangan natin ay ganap na paglalahad sa publiko—mula sa listahan ng mga binawas at dinagdag, hanggang sa pagpapaliwanag kung bakit ito ginawa. Ang tunay na open bicam ay nagbibigay-daan sa partisipasyon at pagsusuri ng mamamayan, hindi lang ng mga pulitiko,” Tinio stated.
The ACT Teachers representatives underscored that this call for transparency should apply not only to the national budget but to all bicameral conferences on legislative measures. They outlined key demands for genuine openness:
- Live public access to all bicameral proceedings, with recordings and minutes published in full;
- Detailed disclosure of all amendments, including authors and justifications;
- Timely publication of bicam reports before ratification, allowing the public and civil society to scrutinize changes;
- Inclusion of representatives from affected sectors as observers in bicameral meetings.
“Transparency and accountability are the foundation of democratic governance. We call on the House leadership to institutionalize these reforms, not just for this budget but for all legislation. We owe it to our teachers, students, workers, and the entire Filipino people whose lives are directly affected by every line in the budget,” Castro concluded.
“Ang pondo ng bayan ay para sa pangangailangan ng bayan, hindi para sa bulsa ng iilan. Sa bawat bicameral conference, tunay na transparency at pananagutan ang kailangan, hindi palabas para sa media,” Tinio ended. #
