Ping Lacson to Actively Call Out ‘Pork’ in Budget Even as Minority Bloc Member

Ending up in the minority bloc will not stop Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson from calling out “pork barrel” and other irregularities in the budget – including the proposed national budget for 2026.

Lacson, who earned a reputation as a watchdog of the budget, said Monday that he intends to participate actively in committee hearings and plenary debates on the spending bill.

“Hindi ko iiwanan ang aking tungkulin lalo na sa pagbantay ng national budget (I will not abandon my duty especially in keeping watch over the national budget),” he said in an interview on True FM.

In Filipino: Ping Lacson, Magiging Aktibo vs ‘Pork’ sa Budget Kahit Wala sa Mayorya

Lacson said that regardless of whether he is in the majority or minority bloc, he had called out and even caused the scrapping of questionable allocations in the budget.

These include the “Tulong Dunong” education scholarships that he noted were arbitrarily given by lawmakers; the Department of Public Works and Highways’ request for right-of-way payments when it still had billions in unspent funds for the purpose; and the flood control project allocations where billions of pesos ended up in a small barangay and a small town.

Lacson said he plans to grill the officials concerned regarding the flood control projects in a small barangay in Oriental Mindoro that received P1.9 billion and a small town in the same province that received P10 billion.

Oriental Mindoro is among the areas reportedly affected by floods brought by the Severe Tropical Storm Crising and the southwest monsoon.

“Sa akin tama na ang put them on notice may nakikialam na may nag-aaral na may nakukuhang datos na tatanungin kayo (For me, it’s enough to put those concerned on notice that someone is watching, that they have studied the relevant data),” he said.

Lacson reiterated that the public must be awake and wise to attempts at insertions and other questionable items in the budget since it is the lifeblood of the nation.

Earlier, he refiled his bill allowing the participation of civil society groups in the deliberations on the budget, including the bicameral conference committee.

“It’s about time magising tayong lahat, bantayin natin ang ating national budget kasi ito ang lifeline ng ating ekonomiya if not the country itself (It’s about time we woke up and kept watch over the budget because it is the lifeline of our economy if not the country itself),” he said.

He added that year in and year out, there are huge unused appropriations that could have been invested for infrastructure and livelihood programs to boost our economy, yet were not spent because the implementing agencies were kept in the dark.

“Ang magkausap lang congressman at contractor niya. O kausap niya sarili niya kasi contractor siya (Only the congressman and contractor are in the know. Sometimes it’s only the congressman because he also happens to be the contractor),” he added.

*****

Ping Lacson, Magiging Aktibo vs ‘Pork’ sa Budget Kahit Wala sa Mayorya

Kahit hindi siya magiging miyembro ng majority bloc sa Senado, mananatiling aktibo pa rin si Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson sa paglaban sa “pork barrel” at ibang iregularidad sa budget – kabilang ang panukalang budget para sa 2026.

Ani Lacson, na kilala bilang tagabantay ng kaban ng bayan, makikilahok siya sa mga pagdinig sa komite at mga debate sa plenaryo tungkol sa panukalang budget.

“Hindi ko iiwanan ang aking tungkulin lalo na sa pagbantay ng national budget,” giit niya sa panayam sa True FM.

Ani Lacson, sa mayorya man siya o sa menorya, sinita na niya at minsan pa ay pinatanggal ang kwestyonableng alokasyon sa budget.

Kabilang dito ang “Tulong Dunong” education scholarships na pinamumudmod ng mambabatas; ang hiling ng Department of Public Works and Highways para sa right-of-way budget kahit may bilyon-bilyon pa ito para rito na hindi pa nagastos; at ang flood control projecct allocations kung saang bilyon-bilyong piso ang napunta sa maliit na barangay at maliit na bayan.

Balak ni Lacson na gisahin ang mga opisyal na may kinalaman sa mga flood control project sa maliit na barangay sa Oriental Mindoro na nakatanggap ng P1.9 bilyon, at isang maliit na bayan sa parehong probinsya na nakakuha ng P10 bilyon.

Kabilang ang Oriental Mindoro sa mga lugar na apektado ng baha dulot ng Severe Tropical Storm Crising at habagat.

“Sa akin tama na ang put them on notice may nakikialam na may nag-aaral na may nakukuhang datos na tatanungin kayo,” ani Lacson.

Iginiit muli ni Lacson na dapat gising ang publiko at hindi pumayag sa pagsingit ng pondo sa budget dahil ito ang dugong buhay ng bansa.

Muling naghain si Lacson ng panukala para makilahok ang civil society groups sa paghubog ng budget, kabilang ang bicameral conference committee.

“It’s about time magising tayong lahat, bantayin natin ang ating national budget kasi ito ang lifeline ng ating ekonomiya if not the country itself,” ani Lacson.

Aniya, kada taon nagkakaroon ng malaking hindi nagamit na appropriations na pwede sanang gamitin sa imprastraktura at pangkabuhayan para lumakas ang ekonomiya. Nguni’t hindi ito nagastos dahil ang mga ahensyang mag-iimplementa nito ay walang alam tungkol dito.

“Ang magkausap lang congressman at contractor niya. O kausap niya sarili niya kasi contractor siya,” ani Lacson.

*****