ISANG OPEN LETTER KAY G. ANTHONY TABERNA
Hindi Lahat ng Dumaan sa Plenaryo ay Insertion
Hi Anthony,
Kamusta ka na? I hope this letter reaches you in good spirits.
Narinig ko ang paliwanag mo tungkol sa issue ng “insertion” at kay Risa.
Ang intindi ko sa sinabi mo ay lahat ay insertion, kahit yung ginawa sa plenaryo o sa Bicam. Kapag naaprubahan sa plenaryo at dumaan sa Bicam, insertion na rin ‘yon.
At nang sabihin ni Risa na wala siyang ginawang “Bicam insertions” sinabi mo na “technical” ang sagot niya.
Pero Anthony, hindi ito pagiging technical, ito ay pagiging tapat sa proseso.
I. “Amendment” - Ang tanging kinikilalang termino ng batas
Malinaw sa 1987 Constitution, Art. VI, Sec. 24–25(1):
“All appropriation bills shall originate from the House, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments.”
Iyan lang ang opisyal na kapangyarihan ng Senado na magmungkahi o umayon sa amendments.
Walang binabanggit ang Saligang Batas tungkol sa “insertions.”
Ang amendment ay ginagawa habang bukas ang plenaryo, may debate, may boto, at nakatala sa Journal.
Ito ang demokratikong proseso , malinaw kung sino ang nagpanukala at paano ito pinagtibay.
II. “Insertion” - Ang tamang kahulugan at hangganan
Dito kadalasang nagkakagulo.
Ginagamit ng ilan ang “insertion” para ilarawan ang anumang dagdag sa budget. Pero sa batas, ang tawag diyan ay amendment kung ito ay ginawa sa plenaryo o committee hearing.
Iba ang insertion.
Hindi ito termino ng batas. Ito ay praktikal na tawag sa mga idinagdag pagkatapos maisara ang plenaryo, karaniwan sa Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam).
At malinaw ang tungkulin ng Bicam:
“To reconcile disagreeing provisions of the Senate and House versions.”
Ibig sabihin: magrekonsilya, hindi magdagdag.
Kaya kapag may bagong item na pumasok sa Bicam na hindi pinag-usapan sa alinmang bersyon, iyan ang tunay na Bicam insertion, labas sa proseso.
III. Pero hindi lahat ng idinagdag sa Bicam ay mali
May mga pagkakataon na ang Bicam ay nagre-realign lang ng pondong dati nang kasama sa alinmang bersyon. Yan ang tinatawag nating legitimate reconciliation.
Ang problema ay kapag may bagong proyekto o alokasyon na wala sa alinmang bersyon at hindi dumaan sa debate o boto.
Doon ito nagiging irregular o iligal.
Kaya kung gusto nating maging eksakto:
“Amendment” — ginagawa sa liwanag, may tala, may boto.
“Insertion” — ginagawa sa dilim, walang record, walang umaako.
IV. Kaya hindi tamang sabihing “technical” si Risa
Kapag ginamit ni Risa ang terminong “Bicam insertion”, hindi siya nagtatago sa teknikalidad, inaayos niya ang katotohanan.
Precision is not evasion, Anthony. it is just being honest.
Ang pagiging malinaw sa termino ay hindi pagtatago, kundi paninindigan.
V. Halimbawa ng mga totoong “Bicam insertions”
Noong 2019, sina Sen. Ping at ilang senador ay nag-report ng ₱75B na dagdag sa DPWH budget na ginawa sa Bicam nang walang deliberasyon.
Ngayong 2025, muli itong lumitaw, may ₱142.7B na idinagdag umano sa Bicam na wala sa bersyon ng Senado o Kamara.
Iyan ang ibig sabihin ng insertion —
hindi dumaan sa proseso, lumabas lang pagkatapos.
VI. At sa sitwasyon ni Risa
Si Risa ay nagmungkahi ng amendments nang bukas at malinaw, tulad ng ibang senador.
Pero nang makita niyang binawasan ng Bicam ang pondo ng PhilHealth, 4Ps, edukasyon at ₱373B ang nadagdag sa unprogrammed funds, tumanggi siyang pumirma sa Bicam report at bumoto ng “NO” sa 2025 budget.
Kung totoo ngang may insertions siya, bakit niya tatanggihan ang mismong budget na iyon?
🕯️ Panghuli
Hindi lahat ng dumaan sa Plenaryo ay insertion.
Hindi lahat ng dagdag ay mali.
Ngunit ang Bicam insertion, iyong idinagdag nang palihim at walang tala,
iyan ang dapat bantayan.
Huwag sana nating sabihing “technical” ang pagtutuwid ng termino.
Dahil sa panahon ng disinformation,
ang katotohanan mismo ang ating pinakamalinaw na anyo ng katapangan.
Maraming salamat, Anthony. At nawa’y mabuti kayo ng inyong pamilya.
Gumagalang,
Edwin
Seriously, while Duterte was in power, he kept on saying he is willing to take accountability and be in jail for his EJKs.
Now that he’s getting what he wished for, why are the senators blocking the legacy that he wishes for himself?
Let the man rot in jail for his principles!
Richard Heydarian:
“Is Senator Marcoleta considered a legal luminary? In the calibers of lawyers, where does he belong?”
Justice Antonio Carpio:
“He belongs to the lowest rank.”
Boom! 👊
Kung hindi binoto ang UniTeam, walang President BBM.
Kung walang President BBM, walang Speaker Romualdez.
Kung walang Speaker Romualdez, walang Appropriations chair Zaldy Co.
Leni is a THREAT. Kaya sinuportahan ng mga kurap ang tandem ni BBM at Inday. They know they can thrive if they are the leaders.
We could have saved ourselves billions. But the 31M voters preferred to have our money stolen.
HOW THE PEOPLE STOPPED DDS HIJACKING
Chavit Singon, Phillip Salvador, Ferdinand Topacio, Rowena Guanzon, and other anti-Marcos but pro-Duterte personalities…
All of them went to the People Power Monument on EDSA corner White Plains and Ortigas.
All of them went thinking they could join and be welcomed in the biggest anti-corruption protest by the people in years.
All of them left with their heads bowed and egos humiliated.
Chavit Singson was booed, cursed at, and even shouted by the protesters na “hulihin na yan!”
Phillip Salvador was booed, called epal, and even told by some protesters “magbigay ka muna ng sustento!”
Ferdinand Topacio suffered a worse fate - used to getting so much attention, not many cars were stopping or beeping their horns for him.
He also wasn’t welcomed near the People Power Monument and only allowed near Gate 4 of Camp Aguinaldo where protesters knew the DDS were hoping for a coup.
He didn’t stay long in EDSA and left soon after in the morning to go to the Liwasang Bonifacio where 300-hundred strong DDS protesters welcomed him finally.
Rowena Guanzon suffered the worst fate.
She went to the Luneta rally and was noticed a bit by media and photographers but after that, no attention from her fellow protesters and the public at large.
She retreated back to a hotel lobby and got a consuelo de bobo interview by a social media
blogger.
Then, from Luneta she went to the People Power Monument and she wasn’t booed. But she wasn’t also cheered at.
People were civil to her. But no one paid much attention to her. People were avoiding her.
That is a fate worse than being booed.
What’s common among all of them is that they failed to read the room - most if not all of them went to EDSA thinking a “Marcos resign!” call was popular or that a regime change was in the offing.
They thought given EDSA ONE, DOS, and TRES, that the protest in EDSA would mimic rallying cries calling for the incumbent President to step down and/or worse, be ousted by a coup.
But people now know better.
Organizers were clear days before and during the day of the rally - the protest wasn’t JUST anti-Marcos, it was anti-Duterte and anti-corruption.
Progressives and the middle class were already fooled once during EDSA DOS.
Back then, there was a debate whether or not to call for “Resign ALL!” or just “Erap Resign!”.
Since Gloria Arroyo still generally smelled good then, the Erap Resign prevailed.
But many well meaning and smart people already knew GMA was not going to be good.
And they were proven right. And the people who joined EDSA DOS experienced People Power fatigue or regime change fatigue.
They. We. I. Have learned our lesson.
Especially now when the Vice President is obviously an unacceptable replacement even if BBM resigns.
And this is what DDS stooges failed to read and learn from.
They thought they would be welcomed and cheered. They thought they could exploit the people’s anger again.
But people now know better.
Especially when these stooges all have clear political interests and are mere hypocrites in calling for a specific regime change.
Despite the minority of bashers, Vice Ganda is correct about BBM.
We want him to pursue accountability of all corrupt politicians not because we trust him or he is our idol.
But because we pay his salary as President from taxpayers money.
We will not be used by the Marcoses, the Dutertes, Chavit Singson, or anyone else.
We want genuine accountability and then genuine change - spend our taxes correctly so we don’t get flooded and the economy gets better.
Don’t try us, mga ka-DDS.
#TrillionPesoMarch
#Accountability
Ang kakapal tlga ng mga mukha ng mga DDS na manawagan na magresign si BBM, samantalang sila naman ang bumoto sa kanya! Tapos sino ipapalit, si Inday? Manigas kayo hanggang 2028!!! 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Sobrang tahimik ng Iglesia ni Kristo ngayong against all kurakot na ang usapan. Pero noong na-impeach si Sara nag-protesta ang kulto nila
Pro-kurakot ang mga lahat ng mga kulto