Lacson warns DBM, others on denying pork in their budget

By: Christine O. Avendaño - 9 years ago

Former Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday warned the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and other national agencies against denying the pork barrel funds embedded in their budget, saying “they will only be caught for not telling the truth.”

Lacson was reacting to earlier denials by the DBM and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) about the lump sum funds that the former senator said were still present in this year’s budget despite a court decision declaring them illegal.

“In short, (the) DBM should not say that I’m misleading the public because I will take their challenge anytime as to who is fooling the Filipino people,” Lacson said.

At least P424 billion in lump sum or discretionary funds, which are prone to corruption, can still be found in the 2015 national budget, the former lawmaker had contended on Tuesday, adding that he and his team discovered the appropriations while they were reviewing the 2015 General Appropriations Act.

Lacson said he intends to file a case before the Supreme Court on his team’s discovery of the lump sum funds as these violated the high court’s ruling last year that outlawed the Priority Development Assistance Fund, also known as pork barrel funds.

Maintenance expenses

But Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman on Wednesday denied that the P102 billion in the department’s budget this year represented discretionary or lump sum funds, and said the money was intended for the DSWD’s maintenance and other operating expenses.

Lacson however maintained that “soft projects (using the) congressmen’s pork are embedded in that P102.6 billion lump sum in the DSWD budget.”

The pork barrel funds, he added, were embedded in the discretionary funds of 11 of the 24 major line agencies, including the DSWD.

He cited the Department of Health’s (DOH) budget, where the “soft pork” of legislators was embedded for their medical assistance in the lump sum appropriations amounting to P75.4 billion.

“I’m assuming that not all congressmen and senators were given the same privileges and amounts. Some are classified as Class A, Class B, Class C…,” Lacson said.

Sen. Serge Osmena III agreed that pork barrel funds could be found in the 2015 national budget and said that senators could identify projects costing up to P200 million each, with some senators having projects worth P2 billion.

But Sen. Francis Escudero, who chairs the Senate finance committee, said the lump sum funds in the national budget were “temporary” and “had safeguards.”