Over the past year, we often hear that in the midst of the crises we face, we must seize every opportunity that comes our way. Between you and me, our present reality goes beyond that: crises present not just opportunities but critical junctures through which societies change.
We are fortunate that just within our reach is an arsenal that can transform societies in ways unimaginable. I speak of information technology –one of our anchors for stability in these otherwise uncertain times. It has become more than a tool for progress; it has transformed into a defining force for virtually all societies to survive.
I am glad to speak before all of you for this same agenda: we must harness technology and innovation to adapt to the change of our time.
The resolution commends the initiative and expresses support to MBC-DZRH for its campaign against misinformation by educating the public and urging government regulatory agencies to craft policies to encourage responsible posting of social media content.
Personal na sinaluduhan at hinangaan ni Senador Panfilo Lacson ang mga auditor ng gobyerno sa pagiging listo at maagap ng mga ito sa pagsuri sa kahina-hinalang transaksiyon sa ilang ahensiya na posibleng mauwi sa korapsiyon.
Ayon kay Lacson, kung walang Commission on Audit (COA) na nag-uulat, malayang-malaya ang mga tiwaling opisyal sa pag-abuso at paglustay sa limitado nang pondo mula sa kaban ng bayan.
“Imagine a country without state auditors… kanya kanyang kupit, kanya kanyang kurakot,” banggit ni Lacson sa pamamagitan ng Twitter.
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson on Thursday saluted state auditors for heading off corruption by flagging irregular transactions by various government agencies.
Lacson said that without the Commission on Audit (COA)’s reporting, corrupt officials would have had free rein to misuse and abuse already-limited resources.
“Imagine a country without state auditors… kanya kanyang kupit, kanya kanyang kurakot,” Lacson said in a post on his Twitter account.
Not even the pandemic and its crippling effects could stop the greed of some lawmakers as they toyed around with the P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson lamented Friday.
Lacson said this after the bicameral report on the budget showed not only manipulations in the Department of Public Works and Highways’ budget, but also cuts in the budgets of other departments previously approved under the Senate and House versions of the budget bill.
“Congress bicameral committee report: P83.87B of DPWH infra projects migrated to new areas while appropriations worth P55.52B disappeared. As if it wasn’t enough to satisfy their greed, they cut the budgets of other departments by P28.35B. Story of our lives,” he said on his Twitter account.
“These realignments being capricious and arbitrary on the part of the bicameral conference committee members, they did not involve proper planning by the DPWH. This explains why, as I have pointed out in my interpellation last Wednesday, year in and year out, DPWH suffers one of the lowest budget utilization rates with an annual average of P82 billion from 2011 to 2018 and even lower average disbursement rate since 2017,” he added.
Parehong malamya ang paggastos sa kasalukuyang taon pero mas malaki ang dagdag sa pondo ng Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) kumpara sa Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) para sa 2021.
Bukod sa nabanggit na situwasyon, binanggit pa ni Senador Panfilo Lacson, vice chairman ng Senate Committee on Finance na marami ring kuwestiyonable at nasasayang lamang na pondo ang DPWH pero dinagdagan pa ng P28.348 bilyon ng bicameral panel ang badyet nito para sa papasok na taon.
Ang DICT na lubhang nangangailangan ng gastusin para sa national broadband program upang makatipid ang mga ahensiya ng pamahalaan sa bayarin sa serbisyong na mula sa pribadong sektor ay kulang-kulang P1 bilyon lamang ang idinagdag.
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.
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson renewed his call to fellow lawmakers for transparency, “particularly our amendments in the 2021 budget bill.”
Lacson stressed transparency is crucial to dispel suspicions of “compromises and personal interests in our proposed amendments.”
“If we have nothing to hide, we have to make our amendments public, as I have done in my case, so those amendments can be scrutinized by the media as well as the public. It is the mandate of Congress to make amendments to the budget bill; we cannot just adopt the National Expenditure Program in toto,” he said in an interview on DZRH radio Friday evening.
Isinusulong ni Senador Panfilo Lacson ang pag-amyenda sa ilang nilalaman ng P4.5 trilyon na gastusin para sa susunod na taon, upang pondohan ang mga programang tutugon sa epekto ng COVID-19.
Ayon kay Lacson, kailangang masigurado ang pondo para sa pagbangon ng mga sektor ng kalusugan at ekonomiya bunga ng pagkalugmok na inabot ng mga ito sa mahabang panahon ng pananalasa sa bansa ng nabanggit na pandemya.
“First things first. We should first address the pandemic and its effects: Health issues, development, recovery of the economy. Those are what we need to address in the 2021 budget,” paliwanag ni Lacson sa panayam sa ABS-CBN News Channel.
“I want the budget to be responsive to the sign of the times. I want it to be responsive to the budget philosophy of Reset, Rebound, Recover. These are what we need for 2021. Not the multi-purpose buildings, not the double appropriations, not the right-of-way payments that cannot be accomplished anyway,” dagdag ng mambabatas.
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson on Wednesday bared details of proposed amendments to the P4.5-trillion 2021 budget bill to make sure it is responsive to the sign of the times.
Lacson said these proposed amendments include augmenting the budgets to ensure health, development and economic recovery in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Also, Lacson said he is open to passing a special budget or special law like the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act to allow the President to realign funds to purchase COVID-19 vaccines.
“I want the budget to be responsive to the sign of the times. I want it to be responsive to the budget philosophy of Reset, Rebound, Recover. These are what we need for 2021. Not the multi-purpose buildings, not the double appropriations, not the right-of-way payments that cannot be accomplished anyway,” he said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.
“First things first. We should first address the pandemic and its effects: Health issues, development, recovery of the economy. Those are what we need to address in the 2021 budget,” he added.
In an interview on DZBB, Sen. Lacson addressed questions on:
* realigning P68B in ‘skeleton projects’ for areas hit by recent typhoons
* reports of getting COVID-19 vaccine
Sen. Lacson sponsored the proposed 2021 budget of the Department of Information and Communications Technology amounting to P14,139,746,000, and reiterated his call to augment funding for the National Broadband Program. “I have repeatedly appealed to our colleagues to support the NBP (because) this is the new normal. Lahat umaasa sa Internet connection including DepEd, SUCs, and practically all government agencies. If we complete the funding requirements by augmenting the necessary amount, we will have a very efficient internet service available to all government agencies, including LGUs.”
It is relatively easy to pass a law creating new departments. But would it be feasible, and will there be proper funding for it? The Department of Budget and Management says at least P1.5 billion is needed to set up the department. That does not yet include added salaries, capital outlay like office facilities, furniture, vehicles, MOOE, and CIF.
During the first public hearing last January, no less than the stakeholders who served as resource persons also cited concerns about creating a new department for disaster and risk reduction:
First, there is a policy direction for right-sizing the bureaucracy that is already bloated.
Second, the implementation especially of recovery and rehabilitation will be carried out not by the proposed new department but by existing agencies such as the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Department of Health.
Third, we can see that the newly created departments like the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development cannot be properly funded, or at least are not given the appropriate funding to work properly.
One good example is the DICT, which for two budget years in a row has been asking for additional budget to establish and develop the country’s national broadband program and free Wi-Fi services for all government agencies. But the DBM has provided just a paltry sum – in the case of the national broadband program, providing only P900 million out of the agency’s request for P18 billion.
Having said that, a dedicated office under the Office of the President with a Cabinet rank and full authority to mobilize the concerned government agencies before, during and after calamities both natural and man-made – from policy-making and planning all the way to implementation – would do the job with much less funding and minimum number of staff and personnel. In contrast, a council-type organization like the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has a very limited capability mainly because it is merely coordinative.
In an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel, Sen. Lacson answered questions on:
* P1-M ‘uniform’ appropriations for at least 42 congressional districts in DPWH’s 2021 budget
* need to prioritize vaccines, R&D in 2021 budget
From People’s Journal: From unwavering fidelity to the Constitution to high fidelity to life-enhancing technology, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson relentlessly pursues practical but meaningful legislation. Motivated by the pressing need to strengthen the country’s digital backbone, Lacson thankfully threw his full support behind the government’s plan to provide free Wi-Fi, especially in far-flung areas, and to set up a national broadband program.
Desidido si Senador Panfilo Lacson na itulak ang pagkakaloob ng malaking pondo sa pambansang gastusin sa susunod na taon ang national broadband program at libreng Wi-Fi.
Nakikita kasi ng mambabatas na ang mga programang nabanggit ang magiging pundasyon para tumibay ang ekonomiya ng bansa.
“This is the backbone of our economy. In this day and age of modern information technology, we have no reason not to catch up or to be at par with neighboring countries, considering that potential investors’ first concern would be internet speed,” banggit ni Lacson sa pagdinig ng Senado sa panukalang badyet ng Department of Information and Communications Technology at National Telecommunications Commission.
Ayon kay Lacson, ang maasahang ICT system ay nangangahulugan ng mas maraming oportunidad para sa mga Pinoy na maipakita ang kagalingan at abilidad.
“I am a believer in ICT because there is so much we can do if our ICT is efficient,” dagdag pa ng mambabatas.
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson on Tuesday threw his full support behind the government’s plan to provide free Wi-Fi especially in far-flung areas, and to set up a national broadband program.
Lacson said he will push for a bigger budget for the two programs, as he noted these will serve as the backbone of the country’s economy.
“This is the backbone of our economy. In this day and age of modern information technology, we have no reason not to catch up or to be at par with neighboring countries, considering that potential investors’ first concern would be internet speed,” Lacson said at the budget hearing for the Department of Information and Communications Technology and National Telecommunications Commission.
“I am a believer in ICT because there is so much we can do if our ICT is efficient,” he added.
I hope the National Economic and Development Authority can fast-track the implementation of the National ID system, as directed by the President.
NEDA should have ample help from the Philippine Statistics Authority as the frontline agency, and the Department of ICT which plays a major role.
The first question is, is the system ready to accept registrants? If so, they should give priority to the marginalized sector, and those targeted for financial assistance because of the COVID-19 crisis.
We only need to look at how much the most prosperous countries spend on R&D to see why we are among the laggards. Even if we bump up the percentage to 1 or 2 percent of the national budget, it would make a major difference.
In an interview with Senate media, Senate President Sotto and Sen. Lacson answer questions on:
– Oversight Committee on Confidential/Intel Funds and DICT Row
– Concerns on 2019-nCoV
The Senate sought P20B in calamity funds in the 2020 budget, but the bicameral conference committee approved only P16B. Where did the P4B go? Sen. Lacson answers questions on the subject in a phone patch interview on DZBB and GMA News TV.
As he sponsored the proposed PhP7.72-billion budget of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Sen. Lacson pushed for additional funding for the agency in 2020, saying its initial budget was smaller than the pork barrel of a legislator.
At the Commission on Appointments, Sen. Lacson threw his support behind the confirmation of former Senate colleague Gregorio Honasan II as Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) Secretary. “A distinguished Cavalier, Mistah, colleague, friend, brother. I need not say anything more.”
At the hearing of the Senate Committee on National Defense, Sen. Lacson stressed the need to pass a stronger anti-terrorism law soonest, citing signs of radicalism and extremism making their way to Philippine shores.
Lacson also strongly suggested that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), headed by former Sen. Gringo Honasan, play a more active role against terrorism as it deals with telcos and ISPs.
Several aspects of the proposed anti-terrorism measure were tackled, including the removal of predicate crimes, making terrorism a continuing crime, and extending the reglamentary period in the detention of suspected terrorists to 14 days, extendible further to another 15 days. [Video Courtesy News5]
In an interview on DWIZ, Sen. Lacson answered questions on: – need for transparency in the bicameral conference committee on the 2019 budget
– DBM Sec. Diokno’s claim that deleting P75B from DPWH budget may harm economy
– US NGO’s claim that PH is a ‘war zone in disguise’
– Sri Lankan president’s reported intent to ‘copy” PH war vs drugs
– ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law and efforts to reach out to Nur Misuari
– Sen. Pacquiao’s bout vs Adrien Broner
In an interview on DZBB, Sen. Lacson answered questions on:
– possible pork in the 2019 budget
– agreements signed by the Philippines and China
– confirmation hearing for DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr
At the Kapihan sa Senado forum, Sen. Lacson answered questions on:
– return of the Balangiga Bells from the US to PH
– portrayal of PNP leadership in ‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano’
– suspension of excise tax on fuel products in 2019
– President Duterte’s supposed ‘power nap’ at the ASEAN Summit
– possible arrest of former First Lady Imelda Marcos
– bringing down VAT and cutting the number of exemptions
– possible Senate inquiry into recent killing of local executives
– rogue cops abusing their authority amid a pay raise starting January 2019
– prospective third telco
– DICT leadership change
– legislation transferring training of police recruits from PPSC to PNP
– ‘rampant corruption’ at Customs
– possible extension of martial law in Mindanao
In an interview on DWIZ, Sen. Lacson answered questions on:
– situation of detained Sen. de Lima
– options for new Customs Commissioner Guerrero
– PNPA sex scandal as a ‘test case’ for the Anti-Hazing Law of 2018
– proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2018
– Sen. Honasan being eyed to head DICT
