Committee on Appropriations Vice Chairperson Angelica Natasha Co is set to file an ethics complaint against Agri Party-list Representative Wilbert Lee due to his displayed unprofessional behavior during the plenary debates on the 2025 national budget.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Co condemned Lee’s actions as “unparliamentary, rude, and detestable,” and dismissed his explanation as “lame and empty.”
She stated that Lee failed to respect the committee and denounced his attacks on the representatives, particularly women, who were defending the 2025 budget.
During the debates over the P6.352 trillion General Appropriations Bill for 2025, it was Co’s responsibility as the appropriations panel vice chairperson to defend the budget of various agencies, many of which are from the minority bloc that includes Lee.
The incident escalated when Lee seized the microphone from Senior Deputy Minority Leader Paul Daza after the majority bloc motioned for the termination of the Department of Health’s funding deliberation.