Tag: 18th Congress

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Lacson Questions Disproportionate Fates of DICT, DPWH Appropriations in 2021 Budget Bill

One department with a track record of underspending and questionable, wasteful projects may be getting an added P28.348 billion, while another department implementing a much-needed national broadband program is getting a “useless” increase of less than P1 billion in the 2021 budget.

Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson thus lamented on Wednesday evening the 2021 budgets of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, after they went through the bicameral conference committee.

“As it is, at P666.474 billion as proposed under the National Expenditure Program, and we actually base this on the historical data I mentioned, we can immediately see that P82 billion cannot be used. And here we are further increasing the budget of DPWH by P28 billion… We should learn our lessons from that data,” Lacson said in his interpellation of the bicameral conference committee report of the 2021 budget.

Related: Ping Nagtataka sa 2021 Budgets ng DPWH at DICT
Continue reading “Lacson Questions Disproportionate Fates of DICT, DPWH Appropriations in 2021 Budget Bill”

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Sponsorship Speech for Ambassador Jose Malaya III and FSO1 Ricarte Abejuella III at the Commission on Appointments

Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the Commission on Appointments, this Representation as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, presided over a public hearing this morning to deliberate on the nomination of one (1) Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and the ad interim appointment of one (1) Foreign Service Officer Class I of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Your Committee, after deliberating on their qualifications and fitness during the public hearing, determined that they are fit and qualified to be in the posts where they are nominated and appointed, and therefore ruled to recommend to the plenary their appointments for the consent and approval of the body.

Continue reading “Sponsorship Speech for Ambassador Jose Malaya III and FSO1 Ricarte Abejuella III at the Commission on Appointments”

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On the ‘Committee of Two’ and Transparency Issues in the 2021 Budget Bill

I don’t agree on anything that is not transparent, especially if it concerns the national budget. While the bicameral conference committee may have been reduced to a “Committee of Two,” it is not exactly the case.

In fact, I already instructed my staff to coordinate closely with the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) on whatever movements of funds before the final version of the bill is presented to the bicam members for our signatures and approval.

Also, I practically demanded that I be furnished with a copy of the details of the Senate version before the convening of the bicameral conference, as what we had until yesterday morning was only the summary of the Senate version.

Having said all that, we already found some realignments that may seem questionable, based on our preliminary examination. For instance, while some of my recommended slash from the Department of Public Works and Highways’ budget was adopted, we also noticed at least P10 billion worth of infrastructure projects realigned within the same agency under the Senate version.

While we can identify the locations of the Senate-realigned projects, we may not be able to identify the senator-proponents. This is the reason why I have always called for transparency in all our individual amendments by posting the same on our official websites for the media and the public to see.

As I already stated, these are very preliminary even as we continue our scrutiny of the budget measure. Thus the importance of transparency cannot be emphasized enough.

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Restoring Quick Response Fund for PNP, BFP Frontliners in 2021 Budget

In his interpellation of the DILG’s proposed P244.309B budget for 2021, Sen. Lacson sought to restore the Quick Response Funds for the PNP and BFP, whose personnel have been frontliners even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Lacson also proposed possible amendments to the PNP Law to raise entry-level salaries particularly for its lawyers, doctors and chemists.

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 Continue reading “Restoring Quick Response Fund for PNP, BFP Frontliners in 2021 Budget”

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PingBills | Senate Resolution 559, Exercising Oversight Authority over the Defense Sector on the Issue of Red-Tagging/Red-Baiting of Certain Personalities/Groups

“Be it resolved… to direct the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation to exercise its oversight authority over the defense sector on the issue of red-tagging/red-baiting of certain celebrities, personalities, institutions, and organizations, with the end in view of crafting proper guidelines that will prevent misunderstanding between the public and the military and ensuring the protection of the constitutional rights of the people, thereby strengthening the confidence and trust of our people on the professionalism of our military in consonance with the constitutional edict that the AFP is the protector of the people and the state, and that civilian authority is at all times supreme over the military.”

Related: On Recent Statements by Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.

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