As Vice Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, I was assigned the task of sponsoring and defending the proposed 2020 budget of the Department of National Defense - Armed Forces of the Philippines.
With a proposed budget of P 188.96 Billion, the DND-AFP ranked 5th among the departments sharing the P 4.1 Trillion National Government Budget.
As expected, several members of the House of Representatives stood to ask questions about the expenditure program of the DND-AFP as well as raise policy issues.
With top officials of the DND-AFP behind me giving support with reference materials and information, I was able to hurdle the deliberations with all questions answered although the sponsorship lasted three hours. All the while I was just standing there on the podium as my colleagues took turns asking questions.
It’s always a pleasure to sponsor the budget of the DND-AFP although some questions and issues are really tough. But the military is close to my heart, since it is the sector where my father came from and I grew up with.