With respect to the reported swift approval of the proposed 2020 budget of the Office of the President (OP) proper, I wish to clarify that my unopposed motion was only to terminate the briefing, subject to manifestations and interpellations during the plenary deliberations.
At the briefing stage of the budget process, the respective proposed appropriations for the various departments and agencies, including that of OP, is not set or ripe for approval.
(I was Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations in the 14th Congress).
The tradition affording courtesy to the Office of the President is limited to the ending or dispensing with the budget briefing for OP. This legislative courtesy is also granted to the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
Part of the tradition is for a member of the opposition to make the appropriate motion, which I also did in previous years.
EDCEL C. LAGMAN