Solons urged to ‘make public’ changes in 2019 budget

Lacson made the call in the “spirit of transparency” as he released his own proposed institutional amendments to the national budget. (File Photo: Senator Ping Lacson/Facebook)

MANILA — Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday urged members of Congress to make public details of the amendments they proposed in the PHP3.757 trillion national budget for 2019.

Lacson made the call in the “spirit of transparency” as he released his own proposed institutional amendments to the national budget.

“In the spirit of transparency, I instructed my staff to make public all my amendments in the 2019 national budget. I hope all proponents will do the same to remove all suspicions that the bicameral conference is a venue for sneaky horse trading among legislators,” Lacson said in a post on his Twitter account.

Among the “institutional amendments” he proposed for education are the PHP7.68 billion allocation for the school-based feeding program; PHP8.169 billion for the teacher quality and development program; PHP1.9014 billion for textbooks and other instructional materials; and PHP7.188 billion for the computerization program.

He also proposed amendments for the budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, including an increase in appropriations for the Environmental Management Bureau from PHP2.523 billion to PHP2.525 billion, with the PHP2.352-million increase to fund monitoring and inventory of greenhouse gases of pollution labs in Visayas and Mindanao.

He proposed the allotment of PHP4.78 billion to mobilize a new infantry unit to address the threat of terrorist groups, including the Abu Sayyaf.

Lacson also sought an increase of PHP666.219 million for the Veterans Memorial Medical Center’s 2019 budget.