“I just hope we won’t have any more reenacted budget. As we all know by now, it is the economy that is suffering. Having said that, I have some issues and concerns that need to be clarified. If the sponsor is willing to accommodate just a few points I’d like to raise.” – Sen. Lacson’s opening statement at his interpellation (general principles) on the proposed 2020 budget.
QUOTES and NOTES:
Continue reading “Interpellation on the General Principles of the P4.1-Trillion Proposed 2020 Budget”
In an interview, Sen. Lacson answered questions on:
– potentially problematic items in the 2020 budget
– P20B lump sum in the proposed budget
QUOTES and NOTES:
Continue reading “#PINGterview: ‘Pork’ na Parked Funds sa 2020 Budget? | Nov. 4, 2019”
From the Manila Bulletin: This year, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who has never sought his share of the “pork,” charged that the current budget proposal of P3.7576 trillion includes about P51 billion inserted by lawmakers. He charged that one reason some legislators want the “pork” is they get commissions of 10 percent from the contractors who get to carry out the projects. Continue reading “Editorial: Efforts continue to weed out ‘pork’ from the nat’l budget [Manila Bulletin]”
That’s what the Department of Budget and Management and the House appropriations committee always say before, during and after our budget deliberations.
However, how do they explain:
1) the big lump sums in several agencies like DPWH, DepEd, DA, etc;
2) why legislators in both houses of Congress are being asked to submit lists of their projects just before the period of amendments of the appropriations bill or even before that;
3) the billboards in some jurisdictions/districts where some congressmen boldly claim that ongoing projects are theirs;
4) how would they account or explain the PHP8.3 billion that we discovered and realigned to fund the free tuition of students in state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the 2017 General Appropriations Act?
Let’s be honest to our people and to ourselves.
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