MANILA, Philippines — The Senate may restore hundreds of billions of pesos in budget cuts and realignments made by the House of Representatives in the proposed P7.2 trillion national budget for 2027, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said, warning that there will be more crying as senators scrutinize changes to funding for foreign-assisted and flood control projects.
Lacson said the Senate would closely examine questionable changes to appropriations for foreign-assisted projects (FAPs), flood control projects and allocations for congressional districts.
“The crying has only just begun. Once we correct all the changes they made, there may be even more crying,” Lacson said in an interview on DZMM radio, referring to the emotional reactions of some House members after the chamber approved its version of the budget bill.
“The Senate still has a lot of work to do, with hearings and scrutiny of the budget continuing. There are also questionable changes involving allocations for congressional districts, and the amounts involved are substantial,” he added.
The Senate received the House-approved budget bill on Wednesday and expects to begin plenary debates on the measure in November.
Lacson said he and his staff were already reviewing its provisions.
He said senators would take a firm stand against cuts to FAP appropriations, stressing that the Philippines must honor its commitments to foreign partners.
“That is where we will take a firm stand: those appropriations cannot be touched. Otherwise, we stand to lose a lot,” he said.
Lacson cited preliminary information indicating that some of the House’s changes affected FAPs, potentially exposing the government to significant financial costs.
“Wait until we pass the Senate version of the budget measure, where we will restore hundreds of billions in cuts and realignments, including those affecting Foreign-Assisted Projects, which could result in heavy financial costs and consequences,” he said.
One example he cited was the Lakeshore (Laguna) Road Network, a multiyear project involving the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Lacson warned that failure to implement foreign-assisted projects could leave the government liable for commitment fees and other financial obligations.
“We cannot unilaterally decide not to fund a project after we have committed to it,” the senator said.
