Lacson: Senate Eyes P2B Cut in 2027 NEP to Set Example of Fiscal Discipline for House

The Senate is considering cutting some P2 billion from its proposed 2027 budget in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to set an example of fiscal discipline for the House of Representatives, particularly in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down certain provisions of the 2024 and 2025 budgets as unconstitutional, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson said Friday.

Lacson, who chairs the Senate Committee on Accounts, said the proposed reduction would demonstrate the Senate’s commitment to budget reforms without affecting its operations.

In Filipino: Lacson: Senado Maaaring Magbawas ng P2B sa 2027 NEP Bilang Halimbawa ng Fiscal Discipline sa Kamara

“Magbabawas kami ng (mga) P2 billion just to set the trend for the House to follow. Ang House, nagdagdag ng P5 billion. The Senate is reducing our proposed budget from the NEP by P2 billion (We are considering cutting P2 billion from our proposed 2027 budget from the NEP just to set the trend for the House to follow. The House had added P5 billion to its proposed budget),” he said.

The Senate’s proposed budget for 2027 in the NEP is P7.7 billion.

Lacson said the cut will not likely affect the Senate’s operations, saying it can still avail of unused funds from the previous year’s budget.

“Maganda ang Supreme Court ruling because it has come at a time na kailangan ang reform sa budget (The Supreme Court’s ruling is timely because it came at a time when reforms in the budgeting process are needed),” he added.

Lacson said the Senate expects to get more inputs on budget reforms this coming Monday when it holds a hearing with members of civil society organizations as resource persons.

He said some CSOs have flagged irregularities in the budget measure, including a ₱55-million farm-to-market road project supposedly intended for Quezon province that had map coordinates located in the waters near Brunei.

“Ito ang mga disinterested, meaning walang self-interest, kundi purely pro-advocacy. Lumabas sa nakaraang hearing. Akala ko malayo na Leyte ang grid coordinates. Yun pala meron sa Brunei may mas malala. Na-break ang record ng Taguig (The CSOs are disinterested. They have no self-interest but are acting out of advocacy. Before the recent hearing, I thought there could be nothing worse than the case of a Taguig project that had grid coordinates in Leyte. It turns out Taguig’s record was broken),” he said.

Meanwhile, Lacson cautioned against a proposal to recall the House-approved version of the 2027 budget, warning that doing so could lead to a reenacted budget.

He said the Senate should instead carefully examine the House version and remove unnecessary allocations, while concerns over specific provisions could be raised during the bicameral conference committee proceedings after the Senate passes its own version.

“Ang effect yan mag-re-reenact tayo which is worse. Hindi yan ang solution. The solution is for the Senate to really scrutinize and cut all the fat sa pinadala ng GAB ng House (Recalling the House budget measure is worse as it will lead to a reenacted budget. The solution is for the Senate to scrutinize and cut all the fat from the House version of the budget),” he said.

“Ang resulta niyan mas masama, reenacted budget. Lahat ng 2026 nakafloat, walang itemized provision. The whole, pag reenacted, lump sum lahat yan, hindi yan ang solution (The result is a reenacted budget, which makes tings worse. All the items from the 2026 budget will be floating and there is no itemized provision. It will be a lump sum. So it is not the solution),” he added.

“They should address their concerns sa kanilang colleagues sa House because their colleagues will be members of the bicam after the Senate passes our version (House members should address their concerns to their own colleagues, who will be members of the bicam after the Senate passes its version),” he added.

Lacson also said it is important for those who misused the provisions of the 2024 and 2025 budgets that the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional.

“Kailangan habulin ang mga nag-misuse sa provisions na sinabing unconstitutonal… Noon pa wala pa kami sa Senate I was already calling out ang lumobong unprogrammed appropriations. Ginalaw ng ginalaw, this was 2024-2025, kaya sabi ko ito ang worst budgets ever even counting the 2013 Disbursement Acceleration Program na declared unconstitutional. I think this is even worse (It is important to hold accountable those who misused the provisions of the budgets that were declared unconstitutional. Even before I returned to the Senate, I was already calling out the bloated unprogrammed appropriations. The budgets of 2024 and 2025 were the worst budgets ever because of the tinkering made by some lawmakers; I think this is even worse than the Disbursement Acceleration Program in 2013),” he said.

Lacson also cited the “doctrine of operative fact,” meaning that funds already disbursed before the Supreme Court ruling on the unconstitutionality of specific provisions may not be invalidated, while those that remained unused after the High Court’s ruling cannot not be utilized anymore.

“(Kung) before the Supreme Court ruling nagamit na, disbursed na, hindi mo pwedeng habulin yan (Funds already disbursed before the high court’s ruling on the unconstitutionality of specific provisions may not be invalidated),” he said.

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Lacson: Senado Maaaring Magbawas ng P2B sa 2027 NEP Bilang Halimbawa ng Fiscal Discipline sa Kamara

Isinasaalang-alang ng Senado ang pagbabawas ng humigit-kumulang P2 bilyon sa panukalang badyet nito para sa 2027 sa National Expenditure Program (NEP) upang magtakda ng halimbawa ng fiscal discipline para sa Kamara, lalo na kasunod ng desisyon ng Korte Suprema na nagdeklarang labag sa Konstitusyon ang ilang probisyon ng mga badyet para sa 2024 at 2025, ayon kay Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson nitong Biyernes.

Sinabi ni Lacson, chairman ng Senate Committee on Accounts, na maipakikita ng planong pagbabawas ang pangako ng Senado sa mga reporma sa pagbabadyet nang hindi naaapektuhan ang operasyon nito.

Nasa P7.7 bilyon ang panukalang badyet ng Senado para sa 2027 sa NEP.

Sinabi ni Lacson na malamang na hindi maaapektuhan ng pagbabawas ang operasyon ng Senado dahil maaari pa itong gumamit ng mga pondong hindi nagamit mula sa badyet ng nakaraang taon.

“Maganda ang Supreme Court ruling because it has come at a time na kailangan ang reform sa budget,” dagdag niya.

Sinabi rin ni Lacson na inaasahan ng Senado na makakakuha pa ito ng mga mungkahi para sa reporma sa badyet sa pagdinig sa darating na Lunes, kung saan magsisilbing resource persons ang mga miyembro ng mga civil society organization (CSO).

Binanggit niya na may mga iregularidad na itinuro ang ilang CSO sa panukalang badyet, kabilang ang proyektong farm-to-market road na nagkakahalaga ng P55 milyon na umano’y nakalaan para sa Quezon province ngunit ang mga koordinado sa mapa ay tumutukoy sa katubigan malapit sa Brunei.

Samantala, nagbabala si Lacson laban sa panukalang bawiin ng Kamara ang bersiyon nito ng panukalang badyet para sa 2027, dahil maaari itong humantong sa reenacted budget o muling paggamit sa badyet ng nakaraang taon.

Sa halip, sinabi niyang dapat masusing suriin ng Senado ang bersiyon ng Kamara at alisin ang mga hindi kinakailangang alokasyon. Maaari namang ilahad ang mga pagtutol sa mga partikular na probisyon sa bicameral conference committee matapos maipasa ng Senado ang sarili nitong bersiyon ng panukalang badyet.

“Ang effect yan mag-re-reenact tayo which is worse. Hindi yan ang solution. The solution is for the Senate to really scrutinize and cut all the fat sa pinadala ng GAB ng House,” aniya.

“Ang resulta niyan mas masama, reenacted budget. Lahat ng 2026 nakafloat, walang itemized provision. The whole, pag reenacted, lump sum lahat yan, hindi yan ang solution,” dagdag niya.

“They should address their concerns sa kanilang colleagues sa House because their colleagues will be members of the bicam after the Senate passes our version,” dagdag niya.

Binigyang-diin din ni Lacson ang pangangailangang panagutin ang mga nag-abuso sa mga probisyon ng mga badyet para sa 2024 at 2025 na idineklara ng Korte Suprema na labag sa Konstitusyon.

“Kailangan habulin ang mga nag-misuse sa provisions na sinabing unconstitutional… Noon pa wala pa kami sa Senate I was already calling out ang lumobong unprogrammed appropriations. Ginalaw ng ginalaw, this was 2024-2025, kaya sabi ko ito ang worst budgets ever even counting the 2013 Disbursement Acceleration Program na declared unconstitutional. I think this is even worse,” aniya.

Binanggit din ni Lacson ang “doctrine of operative fact,” kung saan ang pondong na-disburse na bago inilabas ng Korte Suprema ang ruling sa pagiging unconstitutional ng ilang probisyon ay hindi na pwedeng ma-invalidate, samantalang ang pondong hindi pa nagagamit matapos lumabas ang ruling ng Mataas na Hukuman ay hindi na pwedeng gamitin.

“(Kung) before the Supreme Court ruling nagamit na, disbursed na, hindi mo pwedeng habulin yan,” aniya.

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