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2020 BUDGET

Lacson says district allocations should be needs- and priority-based


While he has yet to see the House-version of the proposed 2020 national budget, Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday questioned its equal allocation of P100 million to each Representative.

Lacson said he will scrutinize the allocations, adding that each district has different needs and priorities.

“Hindi dapat pare-pareho ang allocation sa districts. It should be needs-based and priority-based because there are districts that would need more than other districts. Bakit mo gagawing equal ang distribution ng infrastructure na P70 million and soft projects na P30 million, mukhang hindi tama,” he told reporters.

He said that if the projects have been vetted and in consultation with concerned government agencies, he would have no problem, but if these cannot be explained then they could be considered an abuse of discretion and a violation of the Supreme Court decision on pork barrel.

“Sinabi nila per district P100 million. Nasaan ang items? Ano ang description? At nasaan 'yan? Kung introduce pa lang nila as individual amendments, na bawa’t isa P100 million, if it is not pork, I don’t know what it is,” he said.

He said he has yet to see if there is pork barrel in the General Appropriations Bill as the House of Representatives is not yet done with it.

“Wala pa [akong nakikita] kasi they are still in their period of amendments. So we will wait for the final version of the [House] bill  to find out ano ang difference nito from the NEP [National Expenditures Program] as submitted by the President,” he said.

Deputy speakers

Lacson also expressed hope the House will not push through with a supposed plan to give additional funds to its deputy speakers.

“I just hope they won’t push through with that plan kasi makikita at makikita ‘yan and that’s a bit too much for members of the House of Representatives to be given that much appropriation,” he said.

He said his office received information from some members of the House that each congressman will be given P700 million while each deputy speaker will receive P1.5 billion.

“We have to look into it and validate. But the initial report my office received from some congressmen, tig-P700 million ang bawat congressman times 300 [House members], that’s P21 billion, plus bawat deputy speaker na P1.5 billion, that’s P33 billion. Kung matutuloy, P54 billion in pork,” he said.

The House is seeking to augment its proposed P14-billion budget for 2020 by P1.6 billion due to the expected increase in personnel and expenses, including those brought on by the appointment of 22 Deputy Speakers, up from just 12 in the last Congress. — BM, GMA News

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