SENATOR-elect Panfilo “Ping” Lacson yesterday said he would push for the integration of all forms of “ayuda” or financial assistance under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) when the 20th Congress officially opens on July 28.
In an interview with Bombo Radyo Philippines, Lacson said this is part of the good governance that he committed to push during his campaign.
He said he will set this into motion when he returns to the Senate following a three-year break.
This early, Lacson said he has already asked his prospective legislative staff to draft an amendment to RA 11310 or the 4Ps law, to, among others, expand the sectors covered by the other government financial assistance packages, which he said “have become confusing and have become a political tool used by some politicians for their campaigns, both during and outside the campaign period.”
“Expanding the 4Ps will be better because the 4Ps has a data-driven list of beneficiaries, unlike other ayuda programs that are indiscriminate and are prone to duplication like TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers), AKAP (Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program), AICS (Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations), and MAIP (Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients),” Lacson said in Filipino.
TUPAD is under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), while AKAP, AICS, and MAIP are all under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Lacson noted that lawmakers are involved in the distribution of the AKAP, which became controversial after the bicameral conference committee, during the 2025 national budget deliberations, allocated P21 billion for the House of Representatives and P5 billion for the Senate, despite the fact that they are not supposed to be the imlementing agencies for the program.
Aside from integrating the financial aids, Lacson vowed to continue to keep an eagle eye on the annual national budget, even as he vowed to review the implementation of the 2025 national budget amounting to P6.352 trillion, which he described as “one of the most corrupt national budgets” he has seen in his 18 years in the Senate.
“I will intensify my scrutiny of the budget after a three-year absence. I want to study the pattern of how the national budgets of the last three years were passed,” he said.
Lacson also said he will focus on how to give support for local government units by way of a possible one-percent rebate on their Value Added Tax (VAT) remittances to the national government.
He said the rebates can be used for infrastructure and livelihood programs, thus becoming an incentive and motivation for further economic growth that will lead to a better tax collection, both at the local and national levels.
