Velasco's allies get boosted infra budgets, those close to Cayetano experience cuts —Lacson

The change in House leadership also affected how the infrastructure budget was distributed among congressional districts under the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021, Senator Panfilo Lacson said on Wednesday.

"Evidently, noticeable ito na 'yung mga malalapit sa bagong Speaker may mga naka-register na increases at 'yung malalapit sa dating Speaker, 'yun ang naka-experience naman ng reduction. So what else can you conclude?" Lacson said in an interview on ANC.

He said the jurisdiction of Camarines Sur Representative LRay Villafuerte were among those that received cuts even though it was affected by recent typhoons.

"Na-reduce din ang Camarines Sur because we know LRay Villafuerte is identified with former Speaker Alan Cayetano," Lacson said.

"Ang mga nadagdagan 'yung provinces like Albay, Benguet, 'yan 'yung mga... because Benguet ang caretaker congressman—namatay 'yung dating congressman—and the caretaker representative or district representative there is the Appropriations committee chair of the House," he added.

ACT-CIS party-list Representative Eric Go Yap sits as the House committee on appropriations chair even during the speakership of Cayetano. When Velasco took over, Yap was also installed as vice chair of the House committee on accounts.

Meanwhile, the P10-billion allocation for infrastructure projects in Taguig which was under the jurisdiction of former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano was untouched.

"Pag-submit sa amin ng GAB (general appropriations bill) hindi nagalaw, walang movement 'yung Taguig, probably out of respect or deference to Cong. Alan Peter," Lacson said.

The senator said the way the infrastructure funds were distributed to different districts was "at the very least, improper" as he pointed out the huge disparity.

"Makikita natin masyadong malawak, from a high of P15.351 billion to a low of P620 million," he said.

Lacson earlier stressed the huge infrastructure budget allocations for congressional districts. He said around 220 districts were proposed to get more than P1 billion each under the 2021 budget.

Yap previously refuted Lacson's claim that closeness or alliance to Velasco played a role in the budget deliberations at the House.

"Paano naging palakasan? Na kay Speaker Cayetano ako dati, I remained neutral to do my job para hindi ako mabahiran ng pulitika. Hindi ako nakisali sa awayan ng speakership," he said.

"Ngayon I'm still the appropriations chair, nakita ni Speaker Velasco yung pagiging neutral ko, nagkaroon ng independence ‘yung House pagdating sa budget," he added.

Yap clarified that the budget for some infrastructure projects are bigger than others because there are big-ticket projects that are national in scope and will be used by many people regardless of which congressional district they are in.—AOL, GMA News