Incoming Senator Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson, together with his prospective staff, have started taking a deep dive into how the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) or national budget was mangled, to prevent a possible similar butchering of the national budget bill for next year.
Lacson said they are reviewing how changes were made from the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to the versions of the budget bill in the House, Senate, and bicameral conference committee, all the way to the enrolled bill.
“We are juxtaposing the NEP, the House, Senate and bicameral versions of the bill, and the enrolled bill to see how the 2025 budget was mangled. We are looking at the NEP or President’s budget and what changes were made in the House version, the Senate version, and the bicam version,” he said in Filipino, in an interview on One News late Thursday.
In Filipino: Ping Lacson, Sinimulan ang Pag-Review sa Pagkalikot sa 2025 Budget
Lacson – who gained a reputation as a watchdog of the national budget – had made a post-election promise to be “more quixotic” or more idealistic in the next six years of budget deliberations.
He cited as an example of mangling in the 2025 budget the removal of P50 billion from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in the bicameral conference committee, with the amount going to various forms of “ayuda” programs that are prone to abuse since they are not data-driven.
Also, he cited the insertion of P26 billion for the Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) even if it was neither in the House or Senate version of the budget measure. Leaderships of both chambers agreed to divide the amount – P21 billion for the House and P5 billion for the Senate.
The questions surrounding the various “ayuda” programs prompted Lacson to work on a bill that will integrate these aid programs under 4Ps so it will be data-driven and not whimsical.
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Ping Lacson, Sinimulan ang Pag-Review sa Pagkalikot sa 2025 Budget
Sinimulan na ni Senator-elect Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson at ng prospective staff niya ang lubusang pagrepaso sa mga ginawang pagkalikot sa 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), para tiyaking hindi mauulit ang ganitong pagkatay sa budget bill para sa susunod na taon.
Ani Lacson, kanilang binubusisi ang mga paggalaw sa budget bill, mula National Expenditure Program (NEP) hanggang sa bersyon ng budget bill sa Kamara, Senado at bicameral conference committee, hanggang sa enrolled bill.
“Pinagaaralan namin. Jina-juxtapose namin ang NEP, House version, Senate version, bicam version, and enrolled bill para makita natin kung paano minangle. From NEP or the so-called President’s budget tapos naging House version, ilan ang nagalaw, sa Senate ilan ang nagalaw, sa bicam ilan ang kinalikot pa,” aniya sa panayam sa One News Huwebes ng hapon.
Noong Mayo, gumawa ng “post-election promise” si Lacson – na nakilala bilang tagabantay ng kaban ng bayan – na magiging “more quixotic” o higit na idealistic sa susunod na anim na taon ng budget deliberations.
Isang kinwestyon ni Lacson sa 2025 budget ay ang pagtanggal ng P50 bilyon sa Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) sa bicameral conference committee, kung saan napunta ang halaga sa “ayuda” programs na maaaring abusuhin dahil hindi ito data-driven.
Binanggit din ni Lacson ang pagsingit ng P26 bilyon para sa Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) kahit wala ito sa bersyon ng budget bill sa Kamara at Senado. Hinati ng liderato ng Senado at Kamara ang halaga kung saan napunta ang P21 bilyon sa Kamara at P5 bilyon sa Senado.
Dahil sa mga kwestyonableng galaw sa maraming mga “ayuda” program, gumagawa ngayon ng panukalang batas si Lacson para ma-integrate ang mga programang ito sa ilalim ng 4Ps para magiging data-driven at hindi makapritso ang mga ito.
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