Former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has vowed to scrutinize the increase in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget for next year.
Lacson, who would be running for senator again, said this would be his campaign promise in the upcoming May 2025 elections.
“Noticeably, the 2025 DPWH budget increased by P213-billion, from P900-billion under the National Expenditure Program (NEP) to P1.113-trillion after the bicameral conference committee (meeting),” Lacson noted.
“God willing and with an enlightened electorate, in the exercise of congressional oversight, among others, I pledge to scrutinize each and every additional item that caused the spike in the agency’s budget, among other items in the 2025 GAA (General Appropriations Act),” he said.
Lacson said he believes that the increase in the DPWH budget is a result of the “whimsically inserted” budgeted items by lawmakers for their pet projects.
“That could very well end up in either unutilization of funds or poor implementation that will not be responsive to the needs and priorities of the country in general and the communities in particular,” he said.
Congress had increased the DPWH’s budget to P1.113 trillion in their reconciled version of the budget, from P825 billion in the General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
Senator Grace Poe, finance committee chair, defended the P288.7-billion increase in the DPWH’s budget for next year, saying there are foreign-assisted projects next year that need state funding.