Transparency cast to the shadows

It was the Budget session in which 410 questions were put before the House and 368 were answered, two deferred to a later date, while three were withdrawn.

The House passed a P30 billion budget for the financial year 2010/11 together with eight bills into law. As usual, Members of Parliament called on the government to bring development projects to their constituencies and that local contractors should get a share of major projects as a step in the direction of citizen economic empowerment. The same answer the government has used for the past decade was repeated: "We are doing something about it." The MPs argued that there is need for legislation on citizen economic empowerment.