Nilinaw ni FPJ Panday Bayanihan party-list Rep. Brian Poe na hindi ipinatawag ng Kamara de Representantes ang Meta o ang Chief Executive Officer nitong si Mark Zuckerberg sa isinasagawang budget deliberation.
Sa deliberasyon nitong Huwebes sa panukalang 2027 budget ng Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), sinabi ni Poe na hindi ipinatawag ng Kamara si Zuckerberg, taliwas sa ilang ulat.
“To be clear and for the record, the House did not call on Meta or Mark Zuckerberg to appear before this chamber,” sabi ni Poe, Vice chairperson ng House Committee on Appropriations at sponsor ng budget ng DICT.
Tumayo naman si House Majority Leader at Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos upang humingi ng dagdag na paglilinaw.
“Over the last few days, I have seen numerous publications that stated that the House, whether it be in the committee or otherwise, called upon Mark Zuckerberg to appear before the House of Representatives,” sabi ni Marcos.
“And I understand during my time researching more I saw that DICT was part of that initiative and part of that push. So I would just like to clarify: did the House of Representatives have any role in actually calling upon the appearance of Mark Zuckerberg?” tanong nito.
Sagot naman ni Poe, “The House did not call upon Mark Zuckerberg or Meta before the plenary.”
“And also, Mr. Speaker, for the record, Sec. (Henry) Aguda apologizes for any misunderstanding or miscommunication regarding the statement that DICT had first posted. In fact, immediately after DICT took down that post,” sabi ni Poe.
Binasa rin ni Poe ang pahayag ng DICT na nagsasabing “that no House resolution was issued directing or inviting Meta or its Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, to appear before the House in relation to the hearing.”
“The Department’s budget deliberations were deferred pending the submission of additional information and documents requested by members of the House. The DICT is currently consolidating and addressing these requirements and will present the requested information during the continuation of the budget hearing,” sabi pa sa pahayag.
“The DICT respects the budget deliberation process and remains fully committed to cooperating with Congress and complying with all requests for information and documentation,” dagdag pa rito.
Nagpasalamat naman si Marcos sa paglilinaw na ginawa ng DICT. (Billy Begas)
