Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella. Presidential Photo
Malacañang on Wednesday defended the P3.35 trillion national budget for 2017 amid allegations that some lawmakers had been given pork barrel allocations.
“The 2017 budget is compliant with the Supreme Court decisions on PDAF (Priority Development Assistant Fund) and DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program),” Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
Abella issued the statement after Sen. Panfilo Lacson has said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regained the more than P8 billion cut from its 2017 budget. Lacson added that DPWH also got close to P500 million more from the Calamity Fund.
“We understand the concern of Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery, on the slashing of the Calamity Fund,” Abella said.
The Palace official said the DPWH “is solely responsible for identified projects – from repair and reconstruction of permanent structures to communities or areas affected by man-made and natural calamities.”
“The President is particularly abhorrent to giving favors to particular individuals, not even its allies, in line with his inaugural vow to serve every one and not only one,” he said.
Lacson had earlier claimed that the 2017 national budget was riddled with pork barrel.