(Eagle News)–Senator Panfilo Lacson urged the reduction or removal of what he said were uncalled for congressional insertions worth P4.3 billion in the House version of the proposed P3.7-trillion budget for 2019.
Lacson made the statement after House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr., also Camarines Sur’s first district representative, said the allocations — allegedly P2.4 billion worth of projects in House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s second district in Pampanga, and P1.9 billion in projects in Andaya’s province — were a show of “misplaced generosity” to public works regional directors seeking funding for road and flood control projects.
In a tweet, Lacson called for the deletion or reduction of the said insertions as a display of “genuine gesture of good faith” on the part of the lawmakers under whose districts these allocations were inserted.
“Since HOR majority leader Andaya claims that the huge earmarks for his and SGMA’s districts are a case of ‘misplaced gesture of generosity,’ maybe they can display a ‘genuine gesture of good faith’ by deleting or reducing those humongous allocations,” he said.
Lacson had said the amounts, which Andaya had said had been allowed by the House committee on appropriations without his nor Arroyo’s consent, were apart from the P60 million each House member got for his or her pet projects.
“Sila ang mga leaders ng House of Representatives. Kung hindi sinunod ang bilin nila, isauli nila,” Lacson said in a radio interview.
Even then, Lacson said regional directors and district engineers do not have the authority to seek funding amounting to billions of pesos.
He said district engineers can only seek funding of up to P100 million, while regional directors only course their requests to the Departmrnt of Public Works and Highways Secretary.
In turn, the DPWH Secretary will forward their requests to the House or Senate, he said.
“Sabi ko, nakonsulta ba kayo rito? Hindi siya makasagot; sabi niya lang pakitanong sa congressmen kasi hindi ko alam yan,” Lacson recalled asking Public Works Secretary Mark Villar.
“Since Majority Leader Andaya claims that the huge earmarks for his and (Speaker Gloria) Arroyo’s districts are a case of ‘misplaced gesture of generosity,’ maybe they can display a ‘genuine gesture of good faith’ by deleting or reducing those humongous allocations,” Lacson added.
