Around  P80 billion in congressional realignments have been withheld by Malacañang and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Senator Panfilo Lacson revealed on Wednesday.

Lacson said some lawmakers tried to realign at least P80 billion from the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” flagship program to their districts’ “pet projects” under the 2020 national budget.

“Unmitigated gall. This best describes some lawmakers who tried to realign at least P80 billion from the administration’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ flagship program to their districts’ ‘pet projects’ under the 2020 national budget,” Lacson said.

Lacson said, because of this, he  supports the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte and the DBM  to withhold the release of these congressional realignments.

“This is one reason why I continue to support the leadership of President Duterte in spite of some disagreements with him over some policy issues: He has time and again displayed the strong political will, even against many self-proclaimed allies in Congress whose loyalty clearly lies where the money lies,” said Lacson.

“Such ‘allies’  have the propensity to praise him to high heavens and never criticize him, but with self-aggrandizement and greed as their only motivation and nothing else,” Lacson said.

“The President should always be wary of these so-called allies,” he also said. 

Based on information received by Lacson, instead of exercising the President’s veto power over the line items, which could delay the approval of the 2020 GAA, they decided to just withhold the release of the funds by way of a DBM circular called “FOR LATER RELEASE,” which has the same effect of a veto./Stacy Ang