Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson disclosed on Saturday that his office has flagged what he described as “questionable” lump sum allocations for infrastructure in the proposed 2027 national budget, and that he intends to ask concerned agencies to explain them.
In a radio interview, Lacson said his team had detected lump sum appropriations lodged under a government agency, a matter he said could be brought up during the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing scheduled on August 27.
He clarified what constitutes such an appropriation.
”When we say lump sum appropriations, an aggregate amount is appropriated for a project, activity or program (PAP), or group of projects without detailing the breakdown of the cost of each PAP,” Lacson explained.
The senator said his camp will demand a detailed breakdown, noting that while such funding method has its place in emergency spending, its use for infrastructure raises red flags.
”We will seek clarification on the details of these lump sum appropriations. Lump sum appropriations are allowed for calamity funds because we cannot predict when calamities occur,” he added.
”But it becomes questionable if it’s for infrastructure projects. That is what we saw and we will ask for details on the matter.”
The Senate formally received the ₱7.2-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2027 on Tuesday, August 11.
In a press release, the Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau said the spending plan gives priority to education, health, social protection, food security, infrastructure, employment, digitalization and disaster resilience, with social services getting the biggest portion at ₱2.456 trillion.
Lacson said he and his staff have started going through the NEP documents.
Aside from the lump sum items already identified, he said they will also scrutinize the budget for special provisions that could potentially be used to misuse unprogrammed appropriations.
He also said the Senate will keep in place the budget transparency reforms initiated earlier and carried through to the bicameral conference committee under Senate President Win Gatchalian, who previously chaired the Senate Committee on Finance. These include livestreaming bicameral deliberations and publishing all budget-related documents online.
Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito, the current chairman of the finance committee, has assured Lacson that no insertions will be allowed at the bicameral conference committee level unless they are already contained in either the Senate or House versions of the General Appropriations Bill.
”I hope this year that under Sen. JV’s chairmanship, he will fulfill his promise not to allow insertions in the bicam level,” Lacson said.