2019: Year of the Earth Pig. Brace yourselves for more pork.
— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) December 10, 2018
MANILA, Philippines— Brace for more “pork” as 2019 is Year of the Earth Pig.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, who has been exposing the alleged “pork barrel” insertions in the 2019 national budget, said this in a Twitter post on Monday.
“Brace yourselves for more pork,” Lacson said.
The senator earlier alleged that at least two members of the House of Representatives have been allotted P2.2 billion and P1.9 billion budget for their pet projects next year.
Lacson did not name the two but said the lion’s share of “pork” would go to projects in Pampanga and Camarines Sur.
READ: Lacson: P2.4-B pork for Arroyo’s district
He also alleged that House members who would get more “pork” in the 2019 budget are identified with Speaker and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
READ: Reps getting pork are all close to Speaker Arroyo, says Lacson
“I do not know if it is a coincidence that next year is the Year of the Earth Pig,” Lacson said in a separate radio interview.
Because of lawmakers’ alleged practice of making insertions for their pet projects without consulting the agencies concerned, the senator said every Filipino is already saddled with a whopping P71,000 debt.
“All Filipinos, even those born just now, are already saddled with a debt of P71,000 each, because our borrowings have ballooned. Worse, we have to borrow more just to pay off our past debts,” he said.
“It would have been better if the borrowings resulted in development projects whose benefits we can actually feel. But if taxpayers’ money is lost due to corruption and inefficiency, that is sad,” Lacson added.
As a result, he said, the government was forced to impose more taxes to generate the needed additional revenue to pay off the debts.
Lacson noted that only three to four years ago, each of 90 million Filipinos owed “only” about P60,000.
“Aren’t you angry that because some people played around with the budget, all of us Filipinos are made to bear the burden of debt?” the senator asked.
He cited the findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) for 2017 where some P583 billion in funds for implementing projects was tagged as questionable.
“Why did COA tag such an amount as questionable? There was no consultation between the executive and legislative in implementing projects,” Lacson said. /je
