Lacson plans to nip ‘wastage, leakages’ in nat’l budget to address PH debts

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Senator Panfilo Lacson vowed Friday that if ever he wins in the 2022 elections, he will address “wastage” and “leakages” in the national budget in order to prevent further increases in the ballooning debts of the country.

“Umuutang tayo, nagdadagdag tayo ng buwis, pero nakita natin ‘yung wastage, ‘yung leakage nung ating pambansang budget. Talagang napakalaki. Ito yung tutugunan namin,” Lacson told residents of his hometown Imus, Cavite.

(We keep on borrowing, our taxes are getting higher, but we see wastage and leakage in our national budget. It’s massive. This is what we plan to address.)

“Lagi naming binabantayan sa ngayon [ang budget] as a senator, ‘yun ang aking pinaguukulan ng pansin at lalong paguukulan ng pansin kung tayo ay pagkakalooban ng Poong Maykapal para maglingkod sa ibang antas sa ating pamahalaan,” he added.

(We always scrutinize the budget as a senator, that is what I always look into and I will be even more aggressive in scrutinizing it if the Lord gives us the opportunity to serve at a different level in the government.)

Lacson has repeatedly pointed out that the national debt is projected to reach P13.42 trillion by 2022.

“P13.42 trillion na utang. Lahat tayo may utang P121,000. Bawa’t isa sa atin, walang exception. At ito babayaran natin sa pamamagitan ng buwis,” he added.

(Our national debt will reach P13.42 trillion. This means each of us has a P121,000-debt. And we will settle this through taxes.)

READ: PH debt by time Duterte is gone: P13.42 trillion

So when asked how he would address this problem, the senator cited the need for a “balanced” budget.

“Kailangan ‘yung budget i-balance natin. Hindi pwedeng akyat nang akyat ‘yung budget, hindi naman nagagamit,” he said.

(We need to balance our budget. We can’t have our budget increase yearly, but end up being unused.)

He noted the national government’s tendency to borrow money that is higher than what is needed.

“Ito pinuna ko ito sa mga budget deliberation namin, ‘pag merong projected na budget deficit na P600 billion, ewan ko kung bakit ang gobyerno nangungutang sila ng P1.2 trillion,” he said.

(This is what I pointed out during our budget deliberations, we have a projected P600 billion budget deficit, I don’t why the government would borrow P1.2 trillion.)

“Kailangan ‘yung budget mabalanse natin. Dapat lang doon sa pangangailangan at hindi nasasayang,” he added.

(We need a balanced budget. We should allocate funds to items that we really need so that there’s no wastage.)

The presidential candidate again pushed for the further empowerment of local government units in the implementation of development projects.

READ: Lacson-Sotto tandem bats for LGU empowerment to pick projects

“Napagusapan namin ni [Senate President Tito] Sotto pangunahin namin sa platform, ikalat ang budget sa malalayong lugar para pakinabangan ng ating kababayan,” said Lacson. Sotto, a vice-presidential candidate, is Lacson’s running mate.

(Senate President Tito Sotto and I talked and agreed this would be our priority, to spread the budget in far-flung areas so that our countrymen can benefit from it.)

KGA