Ping: Reenacted budget better than rushed one

A reenacted budget in the first week of January or in the first quarter of next year would be better than a rushed one “that is not responsive to the call of the times,” Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said, as he cited the need to better scrutinize the proposed P6.793-trillion appropriations for 2026.

- By MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB

He said the executive should be given more time to study the Congress-approved outlay in light of a series of controversies traced to the irregular practice of “budget insertions” for politicians’ pet projects, which has led to corruption — specifically the flood control scandal.

Lacson said examining the national budget more closely has become urgent “amid the yet unresolved investigations on the misuse and abuse of the current and previous expenditure programs, particularly involving flood control projects.”

Lacson made the statement after Executive Secretary Ralph Recto announced that President Marcos would study the budget first before signing it possibly between Jan. 1 and 7.

Lacson said the delays in the budget process timeline were justified after the Senate and the House struggled in reconciling contentious provisions, such as increasing perceived “pork barrel” items like the Department of Social Welfare and Development's Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and the Department of Health’s Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP), and funding the Department of Agriculture (DA)’s Farm-To-Market (FMR) roads.

A week-long reenacted budget is “the right thing to do when the bicameral conference committee could not agree on certain items, mostly on increasing the funding for FMR’s as well as ‘ayudas’ like MAIFIP and AICS, which in my view are open to abuse by politicians,” Lacson said.

He said that while the House pushed for funding controversial items, the Senate proposed general and special provisions in the budget to prevent misuse of funds, such as prohibiting politicians from distributing financial assistance like MAIFIP and AICS.