Tag: NIA

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Lacson: NIA Owes Public Answers on Waste of Funds in Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) owes taxpayers a clear explanation for the wastage of funds in the long-delayed Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project in Tarlac, which remains unfinished despite receiving P7.006 billion from 2015 to 2020 alone, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson said Thursday.

Lacson expressed this concern during the interpellation of the proposed 2026 budget of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), recalling that he raised similar questions about the project in 2020.

“Hindi lang sa budget deliberation natin dapat pagusapan ito. I think we should really focus on the delayed projects and the obvious wastage of public funds, particularly sa Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project (We should take this up not just in the budget deliberations. I think we should focus on the delayed projects and obvious wastage of public funds, particularly in the Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project),” Lacson said.

In Filipino: Lacson: NIA, Dapat Magpaliwanag sa Nasasayang na Pondo sa Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project

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Lacson Renews Call for Transparency in Congressional Amendments to 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.

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Sobrang Delayed! Interpellation of the National Irrigation Administration’s 2021 Budget

In his interpellation of the National Irrigation Administration’s budget for 2021, Sen. Lacson questioned appropriations for projects with a track record of delays and negative slippage. He also scored the Department of Budget and Management’s tagging of funds for important agricultural projects as “For Later Release.”

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