MANILA, Philippines —There’s only one official that can bar Budget Secretary Ben Diokno from attending the House of Representatives’ probe on alleged “pork insertions” in the 2019 national budget — that’s the President. Malacañang said this on Tuesday when asked to clarify who disallowed Diokno from appearing in the Congressional probe on the alleged anomalies in the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget. On Monday, Diokno said he was “not allowed to attend” the House’s probe. READ: Diokno ‘not allowed’ to attend House probe on ‘pork insertions’The embattled Budget chief was referring to two construction firm — the CT Leoncio Construction and Trading, and the Aremar Construction — tagged as the “favored” contractor of the DBM. Panelo cited the rude treatment that Diokno received from lawmakers in defending Duterte’s supposed instruction to his Budget chief not to attend the Congressional probe.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 18, 2018 04:30 UTC