Tag: SONA

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Ping Lacson to Fellow Lawmakers: Take Cue from President’s SONA Warnings on Budget, Flood Control

Members of both houses of Congress should take their cue from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s “Mahiya naman kayo” pronouncement in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) regarding anomalies in the government’s flood control programs and in the national budget.

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson stressed this on Tuesday even as he said the President’s order to inventory flood control programs to see which are failures and ghost projects – as well as finding anomalous items in the budget bill – may be “tedious but workable.”

“The President capped his SONA with a pronouncement that he knows will hit his audience – that’s us lawmakers… The pronouncement that those involved in anomalies in the flood control programs and the national budget should be ashamed should cut to the bone. Those who don’t feel any shame would simply be bad to the bone,” he said in an interview on DZBB radio.

In Filipino: Ping Lacson sa Kapwa Mambabatas: Bigyang Pansin ang Patama ng Pangulo sa SONA Tungkol sa Budget at Flood Control

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Ping Lacson Applauds President’s Anti-Corruption Stance on Flood Control Projects, Budget in SONA

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson on Monday applauded President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s stance against the corruption that plagued the government’s flood control projects, as well as the potential corruption in the 2026 national budget, in his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Lacson said his favorite quote from the President’s fourth SONA was the one where he told those involved in the corruption in flood control projects to be ashamed of what they did.

“My favorite quote from the President’s 4th State of the Nation Address: MAHIYA NAMAN KAYO!” Lacson said. “I clapped the loudest and the longest when he mentioned about the graft-ridden flood control projects, even calling for an accounting of the same while holding accountable those responsible, whether government officials or private contractors.”

“I clapped even louder when the President announced that he will return the 2026 budget bill passed by Congress not aligned with the National Expenditure Program. That would make my scrutiny of the General Appropriations Bill easier with less insertions and realignments,” Lacson added.

In Filipino: Ping Lacson, Pinalakpakan ang Anti-Corruption Stance ni PBBM sa Flood Control Projects at Budget sa SONA

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On PBBM’s SONA 2024

My favorite excerpt from PBBM’s SONA 2024: “Mga minamahal kong kababayan, lagi po nating LABANAN ANG MALI at ang masama. Lagi po nating IPAGLABAN ANG TAMA at ang mabuti…”

Related: “Ang tama, ipaglaban. Ang mali, labanan. (What is right must be kept right. What is wrong must be set right.)“
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On the Urgency for Congress to Refile and Pass the ‘Designated Survivor’ Bill

Image courtesy: House of Representatives

On July 22, the President will deliver the State of the Nation Address (SONA). The Senate President will be there, and so is the Speaker of the House. Including the Vice President, the line of succession stops at the House Speaker.

Without passing judgement on the ability of our country’s security forces to do their job well – God forbid – if the 2007 bombing of Batasang Pambansa that killed Basilan Congressman Wahab Akbar and a staffer of Gabriela party-list Rep Luzviminda Ilagan would happen again with the direst of consequences, without an enabling law to comply with Sections 7 and 8, Art VII of the 1987 Constitution, we will have a leadership vacuum and a constitutional crisis.

This is exactly the reason why I filed Senate Bill No. 982 in August 2019. I hope it can be refiled and passed by the present Congress.

God bless the Philippines.

*****

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On the Vice President as ‘Designated Survivor’

This is a rhetorical statement but a good soundbite nevertheless. She is the constitutional successor to the President not needing an appointment as the designated survivor, which by the way is still a pending legislative measure in Congress.

Not only is it a serious matter. The 1987 Constitution actually provides that Congress pass a law in this regard. And for good reason – the line of succession stops at the Speaker of the House of Representatives. God forbid, under an extremely exceptional event that a terrorist attack had wiped out all the 4 highest elected officials, we could have a leadership, hence a constitutional crisis.

In August 2019, I filed Senate Bill 982 to extend the line of succession beyond that of the Speaker. Unfortunately, the bill didn’t even reach the plenary debates in the Upper Chamber. Worse, its counterpart bill in the House (HB 4062) was withdrawn by its author.

Related: Lacson Files ‘Designated Survivor’ Bill to Ensure Gov’t Stability
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