Lacson: Solons' budget insertions are root causes of flood control mess

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said the whole flood control mess could have been avoided if only senators and congressmen had not made budget insertions into district engineering offices of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), since there would be no funds to meddle with in the first place.

- By DHEL NAZARIO

Lacson, who chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee that is investigating the corruption behind the anomalous flood control projects in the country, said that having studied the flow of how this all began, it's clear that it originates from budget insertions.

He said it would be difficult to identify the proponents behind the previous budget insertions, as there are no minutes or records of their involvement.

Lacson, in a radio interview over DWIZ on Saturday, Sept. 20, said the root cause is the lawmakers because that's where the release of funds began, which eventually reached the point where our Constitution was violated as the DPWH budget ended up exceeding that of the education sector.

He noted that their favored connections are already in the DPWH.