Bumuwelta si House Committee on Appropriations Committee Chair Elizaldy Co sa pagkwestyon ni Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman hinggil sa umano’y sobrang halaga ng ‘unprogrammed appropriations’ sa 2024 national budget.
Ayon sa Ako Bicol party-list solon, dapat ay sumama si Lagman sa mga magpaliwanag tungkol sa unrpogrammed funds.
Punto niya, bakit ngayon lamang kinuwestyon ni Lagman ang ‘unprogrammed appropriations’ gayong ang 2023 national budget ay may kaparehong halaga ng unprogrammed funds na inaprubahan, kung saan kasama pa mismo si Lagman sa bicameral conference committee.
Maliban dito, minsan na rin aniyang naging chairman ng appropriations committee si Lagman at naging miyembro ng naturang komite sa loob ng 15 taon ngunit hindi naman aniya ito nagreklamo.
Kaya ipinagtataka tuloy ni Co kung ano ang dahilan kung bakit biglang kinuwestyon ngayon ni Lagman ang naturang budget.
Martes nang maghain ng petisyon si Lagman sa Supreme Court para kwestyunin ang legalidad ng inaprubahang P449 billion na unprogrammed funds na sobra aniya sa ceiling na P281 billion sa ilalim ng National Expenditure Program.
“When he was a member of the Bicameral Conference Committee in 2023 he also approved unprogrammed funds of the same amount as 2024. Was it because he was recently excluded from the bicameral committee that he now claims unprogrammed funds are illegal? Lagman was also once chairman of the appropriations committee and a member of said panel for almost 15 years and yet not once has he ever complained about unprogrammed appropriations. Why complain now?” Tanong ni Co. | ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes
