Tag: Senate President Tito Sotto

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Lacson: We Stand Four-Square Behind the Senate Panel to Uphold Full Transparency in Budget Bill

We stand four-square behind the efforts of the Senate panel behind Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian to uphold full transparency in the 2026 budget bill.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson stressed this Tuesday amid another issue that surfaced, this time involving farm-to-market (FMR) road projects that were not properly identified.

He said this came as two other issues involving the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)’s appeal to restore its budget cuts are nearing a resolution after DPWH Sec. Vince Dizon apologized to the Senate for submitting “insufficient data” during the bicameral deliberations.

“With equal urgency and importance is the new FMR issue raised by Sen. Francis Pangilinan. At least P5 billion worth of FMR projects are not properly identified, even revised from what the Senate approved on third reading: no grid coordinates, description, etc. Based on our majority caucus yesterday, we cannot and will not allow that. For the sake of full transparency, we stand four-square behind our panel under the leadership of its chairman, Sen. Gatchalian,” Lacson said.

In Filipino: Lacson: Buo ang Suporta sa Senate Panel para Itaguyod ang Ganap na Transparency sa Budget Bill

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Opening Prayer at the Senate Regular Session | August 24, 2021

“God of all grace, Trinity of love, source and protector of all life, bestow upon us Thy gracious mercy. In times of uncertainty and distress, may Thy Spirit rise to banish all our worries and fears. May Thy Holiness touch the weak, the frightened, and the ill.

Bigyan mo po ng sapat na kalusugan ang aming kasamang Sen. Lito Lapid at lahat ng mga kawani ng Senado na mayroon ding karamdaman upang maigupo nila ang Covid-19 virus sa lalong madaling panahon.

Aming dasal ng pasasalamat din na ligtas sa anumang kapansanan ang nag-iisa at nananatiling People’s Champ, Sen. Manny Pacquiao.

Isang natatanging dasal para sa kaligtasan at kalusugan ng Pangulo ng Senado, Vicente Sotto III, na nagdiriwang ng kanyang kaarawan sa araw na ito.

May the strength of Thy hand fill our hearts with eternal love, as we continue to become vessels of Thy will and glory. This we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”

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On President Duterte’s VP ‘Endorsement’ for 2022 Polls

It won’t matter to my and Senate President Sotto’s determination to run in the May 2022 national elections. We have already declared, and at this point in time, there is no turning back.

That said, we continue to hope that the electorate will not be swayed by entertainment politics, nor affected by fear and intimidation when they choose our country’s next leaders.

As long as the campaign runs on issues involving our people’s desire for good governance made possible by fixing a systematically broken government, we are good.

*****

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Ping, Nag-Resign sa Senate Finance Committee

Para makapag-focus sa pagsusuri ng panukalang badyet sa taong 2022 at sa mga “red flag” ng Commission on Audit sa ilang ahensya tungkol sa estilo ng paggamit nila ng pondo.

Ito ang mga dahilan ng pagbibitiw ni Senador Panfilo Lacson bilang Vice Chairman ng Senate Committee on Finance na pangunahing may tungkulin sa pag-aaral sa panukalang badyet ng pamahalan taun-taon; at bilang Chairman ng Finance Subcommittee C.

Ayon kay Lacson, ang mga huling pagpuna ng COA sa paggamit ng ilang ahensiya sa mga pondong ipinagkaloob sa kanila ay indikasyon ng lantarang kapabayaan at posibleng pag-abuso sa pondo ng pamahalaan.

“I trust that it is to the greatest interest of our people to once and for all, ferret out the truth behind these reports, put value to the oft-ignored COA mandate, and ensure that there will be no ‘sacred cows’ in making accountable those who have blundered the effective and proper use of public monies,” banggit ni Lacson sa resignation letter na kanyang isinumite kay Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III.

Read in ENGLISH: Lacson Tenders Resignation of Finance Committee Posts to Focus on Intensified Scrutiny of 2022 Budget, COA Red Flags
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Lacson Tenders Resignation of Finance Committee Posts to Focus on Intensified Scrutiny of 2022 Budget, COA Red Flags

Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson has tendered his resignation as Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and as Chairman of the panel’s Subcommittee C, to give himself more time to focus on scrutinizing the P5.024-trillion budget for 2022, as well as to address the advent of red flags raised by the Commission on Audit in its audit reports of several agencies.

Lacson said the COA’s red flags indicate the “blatant inefficiency, unconscionable incompetence and worse, probable misuse and abuse of public funds in virtually the entire government.”

“I trust that it is to the greatest interest of our people to once and for all, ferret out the truth behind these reports, put value to the oft-ignored COA mandate, and ensure that there will be no ‘sacred cows’ in making accountable those who have blundered the effective and proper use of public monies,” he said in his letter to Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III.

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