Lacson wants public’s help in scrutinizing 2020 budget

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is asking the public to help expose and scrutinize “pork” and other insertions in the 2020 national budget as the 18th Congress is all set to start deliberations.

Lacson said he is expecting another “hide-and-seek” in tracking the “pork barrel funds” in the proposed national budget for next year.

“Budget deliberation starts this week in the 18th Congress. It is time to play another protracted game of “hide-and-seek”: they hide, we seek,” Lacson said Monday in a Twitter post.

Budget deliberation starts this week in the 18th Congress. It is time to play another protracted game of “hide-and-seek”: they hide, we seek.

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) August 26, 2019

Lacson sought public support in monitoring the budget process, pointing out it is the taxpayers’ money, after all.

“Any technical support from the outside will certainly help in our scrutiny of the 2020 budget books,” he said.

Any technical support from the outside will certainly help in our scrutiny of the 2020 budget books.

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) August 26, 2019

“This is taxpayers’ money we are talking about. We should not allow a greedy few to lay their grubby hands on it, to put it mildly,” he added.

Lacson bared abuses and indiscretions in the 2019 budget, claiming that some congressmen and some senators allegedly inserted billions of pesos worth of  “pork” in the budget.

President Rodrigo Duterte, on the other hand, vetoed P95.3 billion appropriations in the 2019 national budget which includes the post-realignment manipulations questioned by Lacson and the Senate.

Lacson recently filed a bill seeking direct participation of the public on the deliberations on the national budget, citing “abuse and indiscretions” of some legislators for the delayed passage of last year’s budget. /gsg

READ: Lacson bill encourages public participation in budget process