House demands Ping names source

There is no stronger proof to disprove the information of Lacson than the General Appropriations Bill.

Instead of his usual blind items, Sen. Panfilo Lacson should reveal the source of his information that the House of Representatives inserted P54 billion in alleged pork barrel funds in the P4.1 trillion national budget earmarked for distribution at P1.5 billion for each of the 22 deputy speakers, House of Representatives leaders said yesterday.

“We are saddened because we did not know where his allegations are coming from,” House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said as he added that there are no illegal pork insertions in the General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

“At this point right now, nobody seems to know where it’s coming from and it would be helpful if the good senator could help us ferret out the truth by revealing the source and the details of the information,” Romualdez maintained.

While he has yet to see a copy of the GAB, Lacson said there is some P54 billion inserted in the spending bill.

Lacson quoted his source as saying that every member of the chamber will get P700 million each. Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro also disputed Lacson and said it is high time for him to be transparent.

“I believe that it is not only his moral obligation but it is his legal obligation to name his source(s) and who are these congressmen whom he said are beneficiaries of the alleged pork contaminating our GAB,” Castro said.

“The House of Representatives had been victimized by the alleged legislator last year who accused the chamber of having bungled the appropriations bill of 2019,” he said.

Castro said there is no stronger proof to disprove the information of Lacson than the GAB which in due time will be submitted to the Senate. Castro said he does not believe that congressmen are behind the “disinformation.”

“Similar disinformation was spread during the 2019 budget and not one was presented to prove and to verify the information,” he noted.

But when asked if he meant that Sen. Lacson was lying, he answered in the negative.

“No… but I can only believe Lacson’s statement if he is able to present the congressmen who (are) his source(s) of information.”

Castro, when asked how Lacson could be stopped from accusing the House of inserting pork barrel funds in every budget season, said “I would say that only Sen. Lacson can stop himself by coming to his senses…” He also made an appeal to the Senator.

“Perhaps we could request our good friend Ping Lacson that before going to the media, he should first verify his information because anything unverified will only erode and continuously erode the reputation of the House.”

Deputy Speaker for Good Governance and Moral Uprightness Cibac Partylist Representative Eddie Villanueva said “with due respect to Lacson, his allegation of an alleged plan to give House deputies P1.5 billion each is a big, big lie!”

Aside from the P1.5 billion for each deputy as claimed by Lacson, the House leadership also disputed reports that the P1.6 billion budget increase will be intended for the sudden spike in the number of deputy speakers.

“To the critics of the House leadership, they should stop spreading disinformation that the proposed P1.6 billion hike for House funds is only intended to support the increasing number of deputy speakers and key positions in the House of Representatives,” Castro said.

“Let’s be accurate by giving emphasis that the additional funds are meant also to benefit our Batasan employees, enhancement of the Congressional Budget and Planning Office and the planned improvement of facilities,” he added.

Castro said the House will allow the Senate to scrutinize the additional budget being requested by the House.

“We will ask them to scrutinize even the budget of the House so that they will know that there is no truth to the accusation that is being spread to the erosion of its reputation,” he averred.