Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday called on President Rodrigo Duterte to use his veto power to eliminate the “evil pork” inserted in the 2019 national budget by lawmakers whom he described as “incorrigibly insatiable” and simply “beyond redemption.”
“Mr. President, you have displayed your strong political will on several occasions. This time, use your line-item veto power over the 2019 appropriations measure by removing all the pork inserted by lawmakers,” Lacson posted on his Twitter account.
He noted that vetoing the pork may further affirm the President’s much-touted strong political will.
Under the 1987 Constitution, he said the President “shall have the power to veto any particular item or items in an appropriation, revenue, or tariff bill, but the veto shall not affect the item or items to which he does not object.”
Since the national budget is the lifeblood of our country, he warned that if pork is allowed to ruin the budget, the taxpayers will suffer.
Lacson said some House members and senators made billions of pesos in insertions in the P3.7-trillion budget for 2019.
He said P160 million per congressman was “simply too much and unacceptable,” referring to the worth of projects approved by the House for each of its members.
Multiplied by 300 congressmen, Lacson said that’s easily P48 billion, which even do not count the members who are getting billions more.
He said the P160 million includes P70 million for “hard” projects such as roads and flood control projects; and P30 million for “soft” projects such as textbooks and scholarships. Another P60 million was added by Speaker Gloria Arroyo, including P50 million for “hard” projects and P10 million for “soft” projects, while some of the more fortunate House members received much more.
In the Department of Public Works and Highways’ budget alone, Lacson said about P23 billion in insertions were introduced by a number of senators whom he did not identify.
He said that one or more senators had made P3.3 billion budget “insertions” for one province alone.
This was part of the P23 billion that he said some senators have inserted into the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways alone.
However, he did not identify the said province where the “insertion” was allocated.
He said these projects include flood control structures, national and local roads, water management, multi-purpose facilities, bridges, feasibility studies, and road right-of-way.
Lacson said he has a breakdown of the P23 billion but would not release it to the public.
“It’s of minor significance to the issue at hand. What’s more important is that those concerned are made aware that if they cross the red line and no matter how subtly they did it, they can still be found,” he said.
“I may be outvoted eventually but I’m willing to go down fighting, confident that some like-minded colleagues will do the same,” he added.
The revelations prompted attempts by some “talking heads” to muddle the issue, but Lacson said they are actually advancing his cause in educating the public more about the “evil pork” in the national budget.
He issued a challenge to all fellow lawmakers to make public their amendments to the budget bill, just as he has done by posting his institutional amendments on his website.
“The national budget belongs to the people because it comes from taxpayers’ money. It is bad enough if the money is not used properly; it is much worse if the money is abused by those in government in the form of pork,” Lacson said.
Earlier, Senator Loren Legarda, chairperson of the Senate committee on finance, said there was a breakthrough in the budget impasse between the House and the Senate, and that she would meet with her counterpart in the House, Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya, on Wednesday to finalize the spending bill for ratification on Friday at the latest.
The Palace has expressed dismay at the budget delay and has rejected the proposal of Senate President Vicente Sotto III for a reenacted budget.
Andaya on Tuesday allayed fears of a reenacted budget but again took a swipe at Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, whom he has accused of adding P370 billion of pork in the 2017 budget that could be used to sway the outcome of the 2019 elections.
“Documents in our possession show that for 2017, a total of P370 billion was generated in savings. This amount was at the full disposal of Secretary Diokno,” said Andaya.
“We also know that the amount for 2018 savings is higher. More than enough to sway the outcome of the 2019 elections, if he wants to,” he added.
Andaya stood firm that the House will approve and ratify this year’s proposed P3.757-trillion national budget before session adjourns today (Wednesday) to make way for the 90-day campaign period for May 13 elections.
“All talk of a reenacted budget is baseless. The 2019 national budget will be ready for the President’s signature next week,” Andaya said.
He said the House of Representatives is sticking to the Wednesday target of approving the Bicameral Conference Report on the GAA for 2019.
“At this point, we are still time on target,” he said. “As we pass the 2019 budget this week, though, all this talk of pork is useless unless we see the whole picture.”
Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin reported late Tuesday that the House would hold session until Friday, Feb. 8, to ratify the 2019 national budget.
