Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson – Photo from Ping Lacson/Facebook
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson assured the public on Thursday that safeguards have been inserted in the General and Special Provisions of the 2026 General Appropriations Act to prevent abuse of public funds.
Lacson said amid all the disinformation and unreasonable criticisms, the public has all the reasons to be proud of the Senate panel under the leadership of Finance committee chairman Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
His remarks came after the bicameral panel tasked to consolidate conflicting provisions of the budget concluded its meetings early Thursday.
Lacson likewise emphasized that safeguards have been made so that the national budget will not be abused.
“We inserted safeguards in the General and Special provisions in the 2026 GAA, and I trust that Senator Gatchalian has insisted in those safeguards, like [One:] absolutely no guarantee letters allowed and any form of epal for all (assistance programs) and that MAIFIP should be implemented strictly under the auspices of Universal Health Care (UHC) program and in pursuit of complying with the UHC law,” he said.
“[Two:] monthly oversight on infra and farm-to-market road projects implementation, complete with grid coordinates for easy monitoring by media and the public, among others,” Lacson added.
He also stressed that as long as Filipinos remain vigilant in guarding against abuse of public funds, the public can always remain hopeful that things “can change for the better.”
Earlier, Sen. Gatchalian said the budget panel is eyeing to ratify the bill on December 29 and transmit it to the Palace on the same day.
Despite the change in schedule, Gatchalian reiterated that there will be no reenacted budget for 2026.
The bicameral conference committee also concluded discussions on other agencies’ allocations, finalizing reconciled provisions for submission to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
