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.
Tiniyak ni Senador Panfilo Lacson sa publiko na ipapasa ng Senado sa takdang panahon ang pambansang gastusin para sa susunod na taon, kahit pa masabay ito sa kanilang paghahanda para sa pangkalahatang halalan sa 2022.
Kasunod ng naunang deklarasyon ng pagsabak sa 2022 presidential elections, inihayag ni Lacson na gagawin niya at maging ng kanyang mga kasamahan sa Senado ang kanilang tungkulin na busisiin ang pambansang badyet at ito ay aprubahan bago mag-break ang sesyon sa Disyembre.
“The passage of the national budget bill will not be delayed if we can help it. While we are aware of the Oct. 1-8 schedule for filing of certificates of candidacy, we can assure our people that the preparations for the 2022 elections will not disrupt our efforts to scrutinize and pass the national budget. Hangga’t nasa loob kami ng Senado at ginagampanan ang aming mga tungkulin bilang senador, we will be legislators first and foremost,” paliwanag ni Lacson.
Sa nakikita ni Lacson, malabong magkaroon ng reenacted budget. “Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III and I are hopeful there will be no reenacted budget, and that the budget bill will be passed before the December break,” dagdag ng mambabatas.
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson assured the public the Senate will pass the proposed P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022 on time, amid preparations for the May 2022 general elections.
Lacson, who will seek the presidency in 2022, said he and his fellow senators will do their duty to scrutinize the proposed budget and pass it before Congress’ December break.
“The passage of the national budget bill will not be delayed if we can help it. While we are aware of the Oct. 1-8 schedule for filing of certificates of candidacy, we can assure our people that the preparations for the 2022 elections will not disrupt our efforts to scrutinize and pass the national budget. Hangga’t nasa loob kami ng Senado at ginagampanan ang aming mga tungkulin bilang senador, we will be legislators first and foremost,” he said.
“Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III and I are hopeful there will be no reenacted budget, and that the budget bill will be passed before the December break,” he added.
Hindi kandidatura ang pinakaimportanteng dapat na paghandaan ng isang nagnanais na mamuno sa bansa, dahil bago niya ito isipin ay kailangan munang mahanap niya ang solusyon sa mga mabibigat na problema ng responsibilidad na papasukin.
Ayon kay Lacson, ang tunay na mabigat na trabaho ay hindi sa kampanya kundi pagkatapos nito dahil haharapin ng bagong pinuno ang ga-higante na problema tulad ng pambansang utang, kawalan ng hanapbuhay at patuloy na katiwalian.
“It’s not about prestige or being part of history as being the President of the country. The more important thing is to ask yourself if you can solve the country’s problems. Ang importante: Kaya ba, at may solusyon ba?” banggit ng mambabagtas sa panayam ng DWIZ radio.
“There is also a need to seek the advice and ideas of economic experts and other experienced persons to find solutions – short-, middle- and long-term – to confront and address the problems aggravated by the pandemic,” he added.
More than just deciding to file his or her candidacy and get elected, the next leader must also be prepared to deal with the humongous problems besetting the country, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson said.
Lacson said the real hard work comes not in the campaign but after it, with the next President facing “overwhelming” problems that include a ballooning national debt, unemployment and continued corruption.
“It’s not about prestige or being part of history as being the President of the country. The more important thing is to ask yourself if you can solve the country’s problems. Ang importante: Kaya ba, at may solusyon ba?” he said in an interview on DWIZ radio.
“There is also a need to seek the advice and ideas of economic experts and other experienced persons to find solutions – short-, middle- and long-term – to confront and address the problems aggravated by the pandemic,” he added.
In his interpellation at the hearing tackling the proposed Virology Institute of the Philippines Act, Sen. Lacson gets clarifications from DOST officials on the bill and its progress. He also pushed for the bill’s immediate passage. Sen. Lacson is the author of the Senate version of the bill (SB 1543).
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
At the hearing on the proposed 2021 budget, Sen. Lacson stressed the need for greater government support for research and development, especially in the fight against COVID-19. He also raised questions on:
* Information that PhilHealth is not getting full allocations from the sin tax
* Why P30B in COVID-19 response funds remain undisbursed
* NEDA’s ‘Resiliency’ planning
Dahil siyensiya at teknolohiya lamang ang tamang gabay para malutas ang mga problemang dulot ng pandemya gaya ng COVID-19, isinulong ni Senador Panfilo Lacson ang pagtatag ng isang institusyong tutuklas sa mga solusyon para sa sakit na ito.
Sa ilalim ng Senate Bill 1543, layon ni Lacson na itatag ang Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines (VIP).
Ayon kay Lacson, kada araw ay patuloy sa pagtaas ang bilang ng mga nahahawaan ng COVID-19. Sa Pilipinas lamang ay hindi bababa sa 873 na ang kumpirmadong namatay. Dahil din dito, nagkaroon ng malawakang suliraning panlipunan at pang-ekonomiya ng bansa.
“These problems can only be addressed using science and technology, specifically through research and development (R&D). It is therefore imperative that we establish a Research Institute that delves into the study of viruses of the field of virology. The country needs diagnostics to detect and limit the spread of the existing viruses; vaccines to provide long-term protection; treatments to save lives in the shorter term, and social science to understand their behavioral and societal implications,” paliwanag ni Lacson sa panukala.
Stressing the importance of science and technology in addressing the problems caused by novel viruses such as the coronavirus, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson has filed a bill establishing the Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines (VIP).
Lacson, in Senate Bill 1543, noted the current COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has infected more than five million and killed more than 340,000 worldwide, including 14,319 infected and 873 dead in the Philippines alone.
Worse, he said the health crisis from COVID-19 has resulted in widespread social and economic crises, “the impacts of which are devastating, especially to the poor.”
“These problems can only be addressed using science and technology, specifically through research and development (R&D). It is therefore imperative that we establish a Research Institute that delves into the study of viruses of the field of virology. The country needs diagnostics to detect and limit the spread of the existing viruses; vaccines to provide long-term protection; treatments to save lives in the shorter term, and social science to understand their behavioral and societal implications,” Lacson said in his bill.
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 on DZBB/GMA News TV, Sen. Lacson stressed at least P200B in assistance to poor families affected by the COVID19-triggered quarantines should be distributed soonest, with scrutiny from the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee.
Placing the entire country under a state of calamity is timely and rational, and thus deserves the support of the Filipino people. For one, it will allow the local government units as well as the national government agencies to utilize their calamity funds and Quick Response Fund, in accordance with Republic Act 10121 and other pertinent laws.
Having said that, I cannot imagine that concerned local government officials in charge of dispensing those funds can still have gall and malevolent intention of stealing the monies under their control, considering the seriousness of this unprecedented crisis that we are all facing.
Further, the government, for all its disaster preparedness and response efforts, cannot overcome the threat by itself. We must all do our part, whether as workers rendering frontline services, scientists developing ways to deal with the problem, or responsible Filipinos giving support to them while showing understanding and cooperation with measures from the national government and local government units.
There is no doubt we will survive this, as we have done in so many crises before.
Despite measly state support, our local scientists have given us a major boost – and much-needed hope – in dealing with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), by way of test kits developed by local experts at the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UPNIH). Tests using these kits will cost less than 1/6 of those using imported kits.
I have repeatedly raised the issue of the minuscule budgetary allocation for research and development (R&D) in the national budget year in, year out – an average of, lo and behold, 0.4% of the annual budget from 2016 to 2020, including 0.39% for 2020. For the same five-year period, the DOST’s average budget is only P20 billion or a meager 0.56% against the trillions of pesos that we pass every year as our national budget. This, even as I consistently amended the budget measure by augmenting the budgets of the Department of Science and Technology and its programs. For 2020, I sought a P50M increase for NICER, P100M increase for STAMINA4Space and a P100M increase for CRADLE; as well as P537.991M for UPLB’s National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology.
This should be a wake-up call for our government officials who do not invest in research and development (R&D) through the budget, but instead are supplier-friendly “shopaholics” who choose to shop or buy from their “favorite” suppliers.
If only the kudos and support that our local scientists richly deserve, especially during these trying times, would be translated into increased support from our government.
Science entails research. Science can greatly help especially during looming disasters such as COVID-19. It is high time our government throw its support behind our homegrown scientists.
Para mapabuti ang paghahanda sa mga kalamidad, dapat na gawing ehemplo ng pamahalaan ang mga matatagumpay na kumpanyang namuhunan sa research and development (R & D).
Ito ang iminungkahi ni Senador Panfilo Lacson, chairman ng Senate Commitee on National Defense and Security, matapos ang sunod-sunod na kalamidad, kasama ang pagsabog ng bulkang Taal.
Ayon kay Lacson, mga 0.4 porsiyento lamang ang nakalaan sa R & D sa pambansang gastusin.
To enhance its disaster preparedness and risk management capabilities, the government should take a cue from big, successful companies: invest big on research and development (R & D).
On this note, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson pushed for bigger investments in R & D, which he lamented accounts for only a minuscule 0.4 percent of the national budget.
Sen. Lacson proposed institutional amendments to the P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020. These include added funding for landmark programs of the administration, such as the PhilSys (National ID) program, the Universal Health Program, and free tuition. He also sought to deduct funding from programs of agencies such as the DPWH and DoTr due to their underutilization of funds, and realign them to more worthwhile projects.
Pinabibilisan ni Senador Panfilo Lacson sa Department of National Defense (DND) ang pagbuo ng modernong kakayahan at kasanayan sa pagbabantay at pagtatanggol sa bansa laban sa mga pagtatangka buhat sa mga masasamang elemento.
Sa pagdinig ng Finance Subcommittee ng Senado na pinamunuan ni Lacson sa panukalang badyet ng DND para sa susunod na taon, personal na sinabihan ng mambabatas si DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana na kailangan nang magkaroon ng matibay na pundasyon ang ahensiya sa usapin ng cyber- and technological capabilities.
Ayon kay Lacson, ang kasalukuyang panahon ay mabilis na umuusad patungo sa pagiging ganap na cybertechnology-capable kung kaya’t dapat makasabay ang DND bilang pangunahing sangay-tanggulan ng bansa.
In this age of biotechnology and artificial intelligence, the Philippines should be developing its cyber- and technological capabilities to ward off threats on those fronts.
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson stressed this on Tuesday as he exhorted the Department of National Defense to exhaust all means to pursue this course of action.
“We are in an age of biotechnology and artificial intelligence. We should be looking at control of the airwaves and cyberspace,” Lacson said at the hearing for the DND’s 2019 budget at the Senate.
“We live in a fast-paced technological era where failing to adapt can result in massive social and economic losses… In order to remain competitive in this modern world, there is definitely a need to think new and do new.”
