Local government units don’t have to beg and feel “utang na loob” (debt of gratitude) toward politicians every time they ask for more funding for their projects once a proper bottom-up budgeting system is in place, Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said.
The Budget Reform Advocacy for Village Empowerment (BRAVE) program advocated by Lacson and running mate Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is precisely what LGUs need to meet their local needs and priorities and not wait for “alms” from the national government, especially during the so-called budget season.
The longtime public servants believe it is more effective for local officials to be part of the national budget-making process because they will also be the ones tasked to implement the programs tied to the funding – and would be accountable for the people’s money too under BRAVE.
Lacson revealed this reality in all his “Online Kumustahan” dialogues during his recent visits in different provinces, noting that many local officials – governors, mayors, down to barangay chairman – flock to his and Sotto’s offices in the Senate to ask for funding for their projects as the national budget is being formulated and finalized.
“Hindi dapat ganoon. Dapat ‘yon nakaplano na, nakababa na ‘yung pondo at kayo na ang mag-i-implement. Nakasama na mismo sa national budget,” the Imus, Cavite native told his allies and supporters in one of the gatherings organized by Partido Reporma.
[It should not be this way. The budget should be planned and the funds downloaded (to LGUs), and you would be the ones to implement it. These funds should already be in the national budget.]
“Hindi ganoon ang nangyayari kasi ang gusto ng mga politiko sa Manila, magpapaano kayo palagi—nakikiusap. Dahil ang iniisip nila sa eleksyon… Isipin niyo ‘kasi ako nagbigay ng project’, akala niya pera niya, hindi niya pera ‘yun e, pera ‘yun ng gobyerno,” Lacson said.
[That is not happening because the politicians in Manila want you to plead. They are thinking that come election time, you will think ‘he gave us this project,’ thinking that it’s their money, but it’s not, it’s the government’s.]
“Ito ‘yung vicious cycle sa ating sistema ng gobyerno na dapat mapalitan, dapat ma-stop. Sabi nga kanina ni Senate President, ‘yung culture of mendicancy, ‘yung kultura ng pagpapalimos,” the three-term senator said.
[This is the vicious cycle that must end in our system of government. As the Senate President (Sotto) mentioned earlier, the culture of mendicancy, the culture of begging must end.]
The Lacson-Sotto tandem has proposed that P1 billion be budgeted yearly to each of the country’s 82 provinces to fund their own development and livelihood projects. Towns or cities and villages would also be funded with P100 million and P5 million annually, respectively.
This is possible because up to P400 billion of the national budget – which will reach P5.024 trillion in 2022 – is left unused each year, said Lacson, who has meticulously studied and guarded the country’s coffers since his first term in the Senate in 2001.
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