SENATOR Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson, Sr. plans to address what he called a disconnect between national and local government budget priorities if he wins the presidency in the May elections.

“The reason why the problem is so large is due to the lack of consultation with the countryside and the LGUs (local government units),” he said in a mix of English and Filipino in an interview with DZRH News on Saturday. 

The presidential candidate, under his platform for governance, has been stressing his plan for budget reforms in both the preparation and implementation stages.

“For budget preparation, there’s a lot to be desired,” he said. He pointed out that fund ceilings set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee limits agencies and forces them to “rush and intended beneficiaries are not consulted.” 

“This is what we will change,” he said, vowing to push for zero-based budgeting where each department will have leeway to present and justify as many priority projects, programs, and activities. 

He also said insertions by lawmakers during the budget review are usually done without closely discussing feasibility with implementers on the ground, which leaves unused government funds by the end of the year. 

Mr. Lacson cited that from 2010 to 2020, the average unused funds amounted to P328 billion. 

“You are unable to implement this because you don’t know, you are not who made the plan,” he said.

The senator said under his administration, he will seek involvement of members of civil society organizations, non-government organizations, and town-level development councils as resource persons during budget committee hearings. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Lacson on Sunday denied a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) that he ran some P915 million worth of media ads in 2021. 

“I asked my campaign team, volunteers, and supporters about this. They insisted that they never saw, much less had this much money. No way we could have spent what we didn’t have,” he said on Twitter.

The PCIJ said it based the amounts on published rate cards “before discounts were given to his campaign team.” — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan

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