The Senate will scrutinize questionable projects in the proposed 2027 national budget regardless of who stands to benefit, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said, assuring that even allocations linked to people close to the President will be examined.
Lacson said the Senate majority supports finance committee chairman Sen. JV Ejercito’s campaign to remove questionable and corruption-prone items.
“The majority of senators are rallying behind Senate Finance Committee Chairman JV Ejercito’s efforts to cleanse the 2027 budget of unwarranted, whimsical, and corruption-prone items. — ALL MEANS ALL!” he said in a post on X.
The DPWH has been given until November 3 to submit supporting documents for infrastructure projects in the House-approved budget or risk having them removed before plenary debates.
A Senate review found that DPWH projects increased from 11,420 in the National Expenditure Program to 16,244 in the House version, including 6,271 projects that had not undergone initial executive review.
Lacson also confirmed that the Senate would examine the increase in public works allocations for the district of presidential son and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos.
Asked if the scrutiny would cover Marcos’ district, he replied, “Yes, absolutely.”
Senate plenary debates on the proposed budget are expected to begin on November 23.IMT
