SEN. Panfilo Lacson has vowed to actively call out irregularities, including the insertion of “pork barrel” funds, in the 2026 proposed national budget, no matter which bloc he would belong to in the 20th Congress.
In an interview with True Radio last Monday, Lacson said he will be active in attending budget hearings and plenary debates to prevent irregularities in the proposed government spending plan for next year.
“I will not abandon my duty, especially in keeping watch over the national budget,” he said.
He said that regardless of whether he is in the majority or minority bloc, he had called out and even caused the scrapping of questionable allocations in the budget., including the “Tulong Dunong” education scholarships that he noted were arbitrarily given by lawmakers; the Department of Public Works and Highways’ request for right-of-way payments when it still had billions in unspent funds for the purpose; and the flood control project allocations where billions of pesos ended up in a small barangay and a small town.
Lacson assured that he will grill the officials concerned regarding the flood control projects in a small barangay in Oriental Mindoro that received P1.9 billion and a small town in the same province that received P10 billion.
Oriental Mindoro is among the areas reportedly affected by floods brought by the severe tropical storm Crising and the southwest monsoon.
“For me, it’s enough to put those concerned on notice that someone is watching, that they have studied the relevant data,” he said.
Lacson said that the public must be vigilant and wise to attempts of insertions and other questionable items in the budget since it is the lifeblood of the nation.
Earlier, he refiled his bill allowing the participation of civil society groups in the budget deliberations, including the bicameral conference committee.
“It’s about time we woke up and kept watch over the budget because it is the lifeline of our economy, if not the country itself,” he said.
He added that year in and year out, there are huge unused appropriations that could have been invested in infrastructure and livelihood programs to boost our economy, yet were not spent because the implementing agencies were kept in the dark.
“Only the congressman and contractor are in the know. Sometimes it’s only the congressman because he also happens to be the contractor,” he added.
