Lacson seeks to reform the pork barrel system (Sabong News)

Independent presidential candidate and Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said he will reform the controversial pork barrel system as well as the ugly culture of patronage politics in the Philippines should he win the presidency in the May 2022 elections. To do this, Lacson sought the cooperation of his colleagues in the Legislative branch in passing his Budget Reform Advocacy for Village Empowerment measure. He said his bill has yet to be deliberated by his counterparts in the 18th Congress. Lacson stressed that this is In pursuit of his mission to reform existing Philippine bureaucratic systems that remain unresponsive to the needs and priorities of the people. To do this, Lacson said he is willing to adjust some provisions of Republic Act 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991. Under the current pork barrel system, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives have their own hard or soft projects implemented by government agencies, usually by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). What makes Lacson cringe are reports that some legislators had demanded as much as 20 to 30 percent of the project costs from winning contractors as their ‘’commissions.’’ Lacson issued this statement during his and running mate Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ C. Sotto III’s recent visit to Barangay Calumpang, General Santos City, where they discussed their flagship BRAVE program, among other advocacies. Addressing residents in a town hall meeting, Lacson said he envisions a nation where local government units (LGUs) are given enough authority wherewithal to develop their respective communities and improve the lives of their constituents without having to beg for public funds. Lacson explained that amendments to RA 7160 could accomplish this goal, but while waiting for our lawmakers to begin this process, his BRAVE proposal could deliver the task if and when the Filipinos give him the mandate to lead the executive branch. ‘’We will amend the Local Government Code where we will put a threshold to large villages or districts. For example, if a village’s population reaches 50,000 or 75,000, that should be considered a small town already,’’ he said. Under such an arrangement, a particular community with roughly that size of the population would be given their share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from the local government unit that has administrative jurisdiction over it. ‘’So, first we must prioritize their share of the IRA. This is connected to our primary program, our platform, we call it BRAVE,’’ he explained. Under this program, provincial governments would be allocated P1-billion to pursue its local community development and livelihood projects; P100- to P200-million for cities; P50- to P100-million for municipalities; and P3- to P5-million for each barangay nationwide every year. This is highly doable rather than wasting or misappropriating some P328-billions of public funds, according to Lacson. “Sino ba ‘yung end-user? Sino ba ‘yung beneficiaries? Hindi ba dapat ‘yung mga local government unit? [(Who are the end-users (of projects)? Who are the beneficiaries? It’s the LGUs, right?]” he said. ‘’If in the budget planning process we involve the barangays, (projects come) from the municipality, provincial and regional (governments), and include it in what we call as the National Expenditure Program or the President’s Budget before delivering it to Congress, we can iron it out,’’ Lacson said. Sotto, for his part, said he would be drafting their proposed amendments to the Local Government Code and leave it to the remaining 12 senators to discuss it in the 19th Congress. He said he would be doing it in his capacity as incumbent Senate President.