By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – House Minority Leader Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano dared Senator Panfilo Lacson to do some reality check on his proposed realignment of funds for infrastructure projects proposed by members of the House of Representatives.
Lacson said Thursday that “congressional insertions” tagged by the Department of Budget and Management as “For Later Release” could be utilized in the procurement of P20 billion worth of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Tumingin ka muna sa sarili mong bakuran, the House of Senate is one-half of Congress that you are talking about. I hate to say this, but the honorable senator is fond of mocking the House of Representatives,” Paduano said.
The Abang Lingkod party-list solon claimed that Lacson has always been blaming the House over his disappointments on the budget, “forgetting the fact that budgets are passed and approved by both Houses.”
“There are also appropriations for the construction of the Senate building, why not include that for realignment? The problem with Senator Lacson is the fact that he always projects himself as upright and clean by disowning the budget. The Supreme Court, in its ruling on the controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), had declared that Post-Enactment activities of legislators are disallowed during the implementation of the General Appropriations Act. Clearly, Senator Lacson is interfering with the affairs of the Executive Branch in the implementation of the GAA (General Appropriations Act),” he explained.
