Lacson: 2019 is ‘Year of Pork’
Credit to Author: JAVIER J. ISMAEL| Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2018 16:28:06 +0000
SEN. Panfilo Lacson on Monday said the coming year would be a happy one only for those who would continue to benefit from the pork barrel system, but would be burdensome for Filipinos.
Lacson said every Filipino was saddled with a whopping P71,000 debt, no thanks to the corrupt pork barrel system.
“2019: Year of the Earth Pig. Brace yourselves for more pork,” Lacson said in a post on his Twitter account.
“I do not know if it is a coincidence that next year is the Year of the Earth Pig,” he added in a radio interview on Monday.
Lacson said the practice of lawmakers to make insertions in the budget for pet projects, without consulting the agencies concerned has resulted in projects being implemented inefficiently, if at all.
“All Filipinos, even those born just now, are already saddled with a debt of P71,000 each, because our borrowings have ballooned. Worse, we have to borrow more just to pay off our past debts,” he said.
“It would have been better if the borrowings resulted in development projects whose benefits we can actually feel. But if taxpayers’ money is lost due to corruption and inefficiency, that is sad,” he added.
As it was, the government has been forced to impose new taxes to generate the additional revenue to pay off the debts, he said.
Lacson noted that only three to four years ago, each of the 90 million Filipinos owed “only” about P60,000.
Had development projects been properly implemented, each of the 100 million-plus Filipinos today would have a much lighter debt.
“Aren’t you angry that because some people played around with the budget, all of us Filipinos are made to bear the burden of debt?” he said.
To illustrate his point, Lacson cited findings of the Commission on Audit (CoA) for 2017, where some P583 billion in funds for implementing projects was tagged as questionable.
“Why did CoA tag such an amount as questionable? There was no consultation between the executive and legislative in implementing projects,” Lacson said.
Duterte not behind ‘pork’ insertions
Malacañang on Monday insisted that President Rodrigo Duterte was not behind the supposed insertions in next year’s P3.757-trillion national budget.
Earlier, House Majority Leader and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya, Jr. said it was Duterte and his Cabinet members who asked for the additional budget.
Andaya earlier said that the budget was delayed because of Duterte’s “very unusual” and belated requests.
In a news briefing, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte does not meddle with the affairs of the House of Representatives given the separation of powers.
“[The President] did not ask for the additional budget. He does not even meddle with the affairs of the departments, and agencies,” Panelo said.
He also said the President did not have any hand on the P2.4-billion allocation of Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Panelo also said that the Executive Branch should not be blamed for the delay of the passage of the budget.
“Well, you must remember that the national budget has been submitted on the day the State of the Nation Address was delivered so I do not think that you can fault the Executive Branch. It’s the duty of Congress to deliberate on the matter,” he said.
With a reports from RALPH U. VILLANUEVa
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