Lagman slams zero budget allocation for opposition congressmen

Part of the Magnificent 7 of the House of Representatives: Raul Daza (left), Edcel Lagman (Middle), and Teddy Baguilat (right) (Photo: PTV/Facebook)

The now-signed 2018 budget that left at least 24 congressmen of the opposition with zero budget is a form of punishment and silencing for Albay Representative Edcel Lagman.

“Zero allocations are projected to punish and silence opposition legislators even as it is their constituencies who are deprived of the benefits of infrastructure development,” Lagman said on Wednesday.

“Why punish citizens and communities for the earnest and valiant efforts of their Representatives to maintain responsible dissent as the bedrock of democracy?” he also questioned.

According to Lagman, the slashed budgets are essential for funding infrastructure projects in line with the administrations “Build, Build, Build” program.

“These were not even requested by the affected Representatives and were included upon submission by DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) in the President’s National Expenditure Program (NEP) on which the annual General Appropriations Bill (GAB) is entirely based,” he added.

He also said that the instructions for deletions were reportedly from House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez during the bicameral conference.

In another statement, Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat stressed that a ‘healthy’ exchange of opposing views is crucial for a democratic country.

“Exacting revenge on the genuine opposition solons by removing projects dedicated not to them but to their citizens shows their desire for autocracy, for dangerous dictatorship,” he said.

Meanwhile, Akbayan party-list Representative Tom Villarin said that Alvarez’s actions “show unabashed disdain for democracy.”

“It serves as fair warning to the rest of the House members that all must obey and support the move for a Con-Ass (Constituent Assembly), no elections in 2019, and a shift to a constitutional authoritarianism,” he said.

In a press conference yesterday, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Teachers party-list Representative Antonio Tinio was the first to bare the budget-slash.

“Ang dinig natin ay sa 2018 budget, kinalas daw ‘yung mga individual allocations ng mga certain representatives who are apparently hindi good graces with the House leadership (What we heard in the 2018 budget was that the individual allocations of certain representatives who are apparently not in good graces with the House leadership were slashed),” Tinio told reporters.