Senator Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson expressed dismay over the persistent low allocation for local development projects in the proposed 2026 national budget, citing figures presented by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).
In a news release published Tuesday, Lacson said the DBCC showed only 19.9 percent of the proposals from local development councils were adopted in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
The DBCC briefed the Senate Finance Committee on Monday with respect to the government’s priority programs under the 2026 NEP.
“I noticed that only 19.9 percent of projects proposed by the Local Development Councils (LDCs) were adopted in the NEP. It seems local development plans were neglected again,” Lacson said in Filipino during the regular Senate session Monday afternoon.
Lacson is pushing for an adjustment of the schedules for the submission by LDCs of their local development programs to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
He said he had expected local development programs to make up the bulk of projects in the NEP—or, if not, at least 30 to 40 percent.
Lacson, who champions the welfare of local government units (LGUs), said one cause of this is the schedule of submission of regional development councils (RDCs).
By the time the LDCs submit their proposals in October, the budget call, which starts in January, is long over. Because of this, Lacson proposed that RDCs finalize their proposals by the end of December, and submit them to the DBM in time for the budget call.
The seasoned legislator pointed out that RDCs are in a good position to craft local development programs because their members include governors, who know the needs and priorities of their constituents; and representatives from the DBM and Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev).
