MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson on Thursday maintained a consistently low tolerance for corruption throughout his public service - and will not let up in hounding the corrupt.
Lacson reiterated this as he continues to flag irregularities in the proposed 2027 budget measure, along with corruption behind "ghost" flood control and other infrastructure projects.
"From my days in law enforcement to the Senate, I have maintained a very low tolerance for the corrupt. I am always consistent in this regard. I will not stop hounding them," Lacson said in a social media post.
In August, Lacson flagged lump-sum appropriations in the proposed 2027 budget, including P180 million for evacuation centers for each of the country's 17 regions - totaling P3.06 billion.
He questioned the repeated changes in spending targets for the Universal Health Care (UHC) Program while actual spending did not consistently align with those targets, with the Department of Health (DOH) adopting successive financing plans for UHC in 2022 alone.
Lacson pointed out as well how legislative insertions in the national budget became a major cause of delays and underutilization of funds for the DOH's projects, as lawmakers add projects without consulting it.
