PING ON EMPOWERING VILLAGES THROUGH BUDGET REFORM

• Presidential bet, Senator Panfilo Lacson and his running mate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III aim to give local government units increased participation in the development of projects. 

• When he becomes president, Lacson says he will put focus on budget reform to empower even the smallest of villages. 

• Lacosn notes that the current set-up leaves LGUs out of the equation when they are in fact in the best position to know what the people really need.

• Lacson cited as an example a project carried out in a province by the national government, where the LGU asked for the concreting of the main road. But instead a contractor was sent to the village for a road-widening project. In the end, only the two sides of the road were concreted, and only tricycles could use it, while the middle remained a dirt road.

• Lacson noted far-flung villages are often left in the dust because of the huge disconnect between the LGUs and the national budget.

• Lacson says that LGUs, through their Local Development Councils, should have a bigger say in national budget deliberations. Planning and funding should be from the bottom up, not top to bottom. 

• This way, the LGUs can get the appropriate budget that they need, not just 20% of what is allocated to them, like what is happening right now under the current system.

• Apart from empowering the villages, Lacson says a budget reform will help alleviate the country’s budget deficit, which will then help pay the government debt currently at P11.6 trillion.