WALA umanong kinalaman ang Kamara de Representantes sa pagbawas sa budget para sa Southeast Asian Games na idaraos sa bansa ngayong taon.
Ayon kay House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo hindi niya alam ang buong detalye ng pagtapyas sa SEA Games budget dahil ang Senado na ang nagbawas nito.
“Well it will push through but I understand not from our side that there was a reduction in the budget so I don’t know to what extent the reduction was as I just got a report from the panel that it was reduced,” ani Arroyo.
Pero maaari naman umanong hanapan ng dagdag na pondo ang SEA Games kung kakailanganin.
“….There’s always the option of augmenting the budget from savings of other components. There’s always that option.”
Ayon sa ulat P5 bilyon lamang sa P7.5 bilyong budget na inilaan ng Malacañang para sa SEAG ang ibinigay ng Senado.
Makalipas ang 14 na taon ay ngayon lang muli magho-host ang bansa ng SEAG.
Samantala, sinabi ni Arroyo na inutusan niya ang tatlong kakatawan sa Kamara sa pakikipag-usap sa mga senador na plantsahin na ang P3.757 trilyong budget para ngayong taon.
“We’ll end the impasse as soon as possible that’s my instruction. I did not micromanage the putting together of the budget. I don’t want to micromanage also their negotiations because the ones who did the budget know what they did and know what their flexibilities are.”
Ang tatlong naatasan na makipag-usap sa mga senador ay sina House committee on appropriations chairman Rolando Andaya Jr., House Majority Leader Fred Castro at Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.
Samantala, naglabas ng opisyal na pahayag ang Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) Biyernes na sinisiguro sa sambayanang Pilipino na tuloy-tuloy ang paghahanda para sa 30th SEA Games.
“Despite the budget cuts and various challenges confronting the Philippine hosting of the 30th SEA Games, we are unfazed and determined to make this successful,” ayon sa pahayag.
‘‘We are determined to pursue our task and responsibility which was given to us by President Rodrigo Duterte last year. We know that the budget limitation is a major factor. But our strong will to mount the best SEA Games in history for the sake of our athletes and the Filipino people is bigger than any other problem confronting us today.”
Ayon pa sa PHISGOC, ang konstruksyon ng New Clark City Sports Complex ay patuloy na isinasagawa at matatapos ito ngayong Setyembre.
“PHISGOC has been successful in tapping private companies to sponsor the Games and augment its budget. The overwhelming support of the private partners boosts our efforts to facilitate event preparations. Budget is clearly a challenge,” dagdag pa ng pahayag.