To The Manila Times: PLEASE allow us to disabuse the minds of your readers amid the national gaslighting (a.k.a. the unfounded attack on being pro-Philippines) that Rigoberto Tiglao is passing off as a column.
     |    |   |
Tag: JV Ejercito
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson on Wednesday rebutted claims of an alleged P17.9-billion pork barrel fund for the Senate in the 2026 budget bill, saying these are actually realignments to increase the subsistence allowance of uniformed personnel.
Lacson said the claims of “Senate pork” made by Rep. Antonio Tinio smacked either of “trabahong tamad (lazy work)” or a malicious attempt to destabilize the Senate.
“The ‘Senate pork’ referred to by Rep. Tinio are actually realignments to increase the subsistence allowance of the uniformed personnel from the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and Bureau of Fire Protection and also the Philippine Coast Guard,” Lacson stressed.
“Rep. Tinio is either too lazy to do his research, or he is malevolently destabilizing the Senate to take the heat off the House of Representatives,” he added.
In Filipino: Lacson: Walang “Senate Pork,” Pondo para Pataasin ang Subsistence Allowance ng Uniformed Services
| | | |
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson on Thursday pushed anew for maximizing the participation of local government units (LGUs) in the crafting of the national budget, with their priority programs and activities getting a bigger share of the budget pie.
Lacson said that while only 35 percent of projects endorsed by regional development councils are accommodated in the National Expenditure Program, he is hoping this can be enhanced to up to 60 percent.
“(Our effort) is to get them involved in the preparation of the NEP, maximize their participation. In fact the President himself issued Executive Order 82 strengthening and enhancing the participation of regional development councils. And the RDCs rely heavily on local development councils,” he said in his interpellation of the proposed 2026 budget for the DILG’s Support to Local Governance Program.
“Sa ngayon we’re still at 35% of the entire NEP sa budget call. Ang pumapasok sa NEP sa mga 35% output ng RDCs. We want to further enhance that makarating man lang ng 50-60% (For now only 35% of the projects endorsed by the regional development councils are accommodated in the NEP. We want to further enhance that to 50-60%),” he added.
In Filipino: Lacson, Itinulak ang Mas Malaking Papel para sa LGU sa Pagbuo ng Budget
Continue reading “Lacson Pushes Maximizing LGUs’ Participation in Crafting Budget”
| | | |
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson is stepping aside as chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, after some colleagues aired their disappointment over the investigation into anomalous flood control projects.
But Lacson – who noted that all Senate committee chairpersons including the Blue Ribbon are elected by fellow senators and thus serve at the pleasure of their peers – maintained that this will not stop his continuing fight against corruption.
“Since all chairpersons of the Senate committees are elected by our peers, I serve at the pleasure of my colleagues, particularly the members of the majority. Rightly or wrongly, when quite a number of them have expressed disappointment over how I’m handling the flood control project anomalies, I thought it’s time for me to step aside in favor of another member who they think can handle the committee better,” Lacson said.
“No amount of criticisms from misinformed netizens and partisan sectors can distract or pressure me from doing my job right, but when my own peers start expressing their group or individual sentiments, maybe it is best to vacate. Nevertheless, I will continue to fight a corrupt and rotten system in the misuse and abuse of public funds as I have consistently done in the course of my long years in public service,” he added.
In Filipino: Lacson Magbibitiw Bilang Blue Ribbon Chairman, Ngunit Ipagpapatuloy ang Laban Kontra Katiwalian
| | | |
Why did lawmakers allow the scrapping of P74 billion for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) when they knew it was illegal?
Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson raised this question on Monday as he noted the realignment of the P74 billion in the GAA effectively amended the Sin Tax Law, violating the principle that a general law cannot amend a special law.
“(The) GAA is a general law. And the sin tax law is a special law. And any lawyer will tell you, or any member of Congress will tell you that a general law cannot amend a special law. In other words, what the Senate did and what the House did was illegal,” Lacson, an eagle-eyed watchdog of the budget, said in his interjection of Sen. JV Ejercito’s privilege speech about the Universal Health Care Act.
In Filipino: Tanong ni Lacson: Bakit Pumayag ang Senado at Kamara sa Ilegal na P74B Realignment ng PhilHealth Subsidy sa 2025 GAA?
| | | |