In an interview on ANC, Sen. Lacson answered questions on: – passage of the 2019 national budget
– allegations of graft vs DBM Sec Diokno and calls for him to resign
– compensation for landowners affected by DPWH right-of-way projects
– Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite
Highlights of the continuation of Sen. Lacson’s interpellation of the DPWH’s budget:
* Tracing a big chunk of the P75B ‘insertion’ in the DPWH’s 2019 budget
* Proposal to reallocate a part of the P75B to slope protection
* Plea to DPWH to ‘walk the extra mile’ in helping landowners affected by right-of-way issues
* Push to restore a provision in the 2019 budget not to start implementation of projects without settling ROW first
Slope protection needed: A portion of the Labey-Lacamen Road in Benguet
Maaaring maging tagapagligtas ng mga motoristang dumadaaan sa Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) Road project ang bahagi ng P75 bilyon na tinanggal ng Senado mula sa 2019 budget ng Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Ayon kay Senador Panfilo Lacson, na nakabisto sa naturang singit na pondo, isa sa kanyang tinitingnan na paglilipatan ng bahagi ng pondo ay ang slope protection sa BLISTT.
“If my other colleagues will allow … we might give part of the P75 billion to the DPWH for slope protection work in Cordillera,” pagbubunyag ni Lacson.
Sa mga kalsadang sakop ng BLISTT project, karaniwan nang problema ng mga motorista ang mga landslides dahil hindi naging maayos ang paglalagay ng slope protection sa mga ito, dahilan para gumuho kahit sa hindi kalakasang pag-ulan.
Slope protection needed: A portion of the Labey-Lacamen Road in Benguet
There are several worthwhile programs that could use the P75 billion deleted from the proposed 2019 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways – such as slope protection for key roads in Northern Luzon, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson said.
“If my other colleagues will allow … we might give part of the P75 billion to the DPWH for slope protection work in Cordillera,” he said.
But Lacson said the bottom line is that the realignment of the amount to other items in the P3.7-trillion budget for 2019 should not be a case of “pork to pork.”
“We will look for programs that need funding. But for me, the bottom line is that the ‘transfer’ of the P75 billion should not be from pork to pork,” he added.