Key for PH progress? Earmark P1-B for each province, says Lacson

Independent senatorial candidate Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Tuesday said that if elected, he would push for a budget reform plan which would allow spur development in local government units and would weed out mendicancy and patronage politics.

At a press forum, Lacson said that his platform for the May elections is to revamp the national budget system, saying that in the 2015 budget, about P502.5 billion remained unspent.

“Gusto ko mag-focus sa national budget. For the past 12 years in the Senate, ang tingin ko ang budget ay ang lifeblood of the country. When we talk of the national budget, we talk about three things: national agencies. Local government units and government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs). Kung titingnan natin ang budget natin, ang focus masyado is sa national line agencies… Alam niyo ba na ang unreleased appropriation ay pumalo ng P502.5 billion?” Lacson said during the Pandesal Forum at Kamuning Bakery.

The former senator, who is currently in second place among the candidates preferred by voters to hold a Senate seat, said that he with the said budget surplus, it is possible to hand out P1 billion for each of the country’s 81 provinces.

“Why don’t we just distribute the budget equitably to local government units? Why don’t we just spread it out, give it to local government units, give them the responsibility and accompany it with accountability mechanisms? So that progress will trickle down and will be felt by those living in far-flung areas” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Lacson said that through handing out equal shares to provincial governments, the practice of local government officials “begging” for budget in Manila will be eliminated.

“Each province can be easily given P1 billion to augment or to be used on top of the 20 percent of the IRA. Each municipality can be provided with P100 million. Each city can be given P300 million and each barangay can be given P5 million for their development,” he said.

The former Aquino Cabinet member said that if his budget reform plan will materialize, it would spell more job opportunities for Filipinos through the implementation of various infrastructure projects and in the long term, will lead to the decongestion of highly urbanized areas in the country such as Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao.

“If we distribute the national budget with the plan that we are suggesting, I think that would be the key to the nation’s progress and not limited only to urbanized centers in the country,” he said.

According to the February survey of Social Weather Stations, Lacson trailed behind frontrunner Vicente “Tito” Sotto III in the list of top senatorial candidates—with 49 percent of respondents choosing him as one of their Senate bets.