MANIFESTATION- OMB BUDGET

As a proud member of the entertainment and film industry and as a producer myself, talagang nagdurugo ang aking puso sa tuwing nababalitaan natin ang talamak na pamimirata ng pelikula sa ating bansa - ang pelikulang binuo ng pagka-malikhain at dedikasyon ng mga kapwa ko artista at kasamahan sa industriya. Tunay na nakakalungkot na ang pinaghirapang pelikula na pinagbuhusan ng talento at oras ng mga alagad ng sining ay nalalapastangan lang ng mga namimirata. But what's more demoralizing is the fact that there exists no mechanism to address issues like this. Ito at ang kawalan ng malasakit sa industriya at pagiging tapat sa sinumpaang mandato ang malinaw na dahilan sa kawalan ng aksyon para mapanagot at masupil ang mga kawatang ito.

Mr. President, during the budget deliberations at the Committee level, I moved for the deferment of the approval of the budget of the Optical Media Board considering the failure of its Chairperson and CEO to perform its mandate. As admitted by Mr. Jeremy Marquez during our hearing, there was zero new administrative case filed against violators of Republic Act 9239 or the Optical Media Act of 2003. The number of resolved administrative cases during his one-year term since November 2021 is also zero. To say that this is ineptitude on the part of the OMB leadership is an understatement. In a television interview, I mentioned about giving P1 budget to the OMB, pero kung iisipin malaki pa ito dahil zero nga ang performance sa ilalim ng liderato ni G. Marquez.

Mr. President, may I request the suspension of our Rules (pursuant to Sec. 121, Rule 43) to directly ask questions to the OMB Chairperson Mr. Jeremy Marquez.