To avert a possible veto of President Rodrigo Duterte, Congress has decided to recall the coco levy fund bill, which had been ratified already by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri disclosed that the bill should have been up for Duterte鈥檚 signature on Monday but it was suddenly removed from the agenda.
鈥淭hat was number one in the agenda and we found out the President and the Office of the President removed that measure,鈥� Zubiri told reporters on Tuesday.
READ: Senate ratifies coco levy fund bill
鈥淧ag tanong namin, ang balita sa amin (When we asked, we were told): 鈥楽ir there鈥檚 a possibility that he would veto the measure today,鈥欌�� he said.
Zubiri said he then immediately requested an emergency meeting with the President around 6 pm Monday.
As the Majority Leader, Zubiri said he offered to recall the bill and reconstitute the bicameral conference committee to reconsider the measure.
He said the two 鈥渕ajor鈥� issues that need to be addressed in the bill would be the composition of the council that will manage the fund of the transfers, and the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.
Majority of the council, he said, should be composed of heads of government offices while the P10 billion fund should not be 鈥減erpetual.鈥�
鈥淎yaw na ayaw po ng DBM (Department of Budget and Management) at DOF (Department of Finance) na walang sunset provision yung P10-billion na rice fund鈥︹�� Zubiri said.
(The DBM and the DOF don鈥檛 want the P10-billion rice fund to not have a sunset provision.)
鈥淕usto nila may sunset provision. Ilang taon ba, dalawang tao, limang taon? Pero hindi pwedeng perpetual na ire-release sa mga magsasaka,鈥� he added.
(They want a sunset provision. How many years; 2 years, 5 years? But it can鈥檛 be perpetually released to the farmers.)
Zubiri said the bicameral committee will meet at 6 pm this Tuesday and they hope to approve and ratify the measure before Congress goes on recess on Wednesday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 either we amend it or it鈥檚 lost,鈥� the Majority Leader added. /je