LAGMAN, CO TRADE BARBS OVER P449.5-BILLION ‘UNPROGRAMMED FUNDS’ IN 2024 BUDGET

By Junex Doronio

MANILA — Discarding their being fellow “oragon” Bicolanos, Ako Bicol party-list Representative Elizaldy Co and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman clashed over the unprogrammed funds in the 2024 budget which reportedly exceeded P449.5-B over the P289.1-B proposed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Co, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, twitted Lagman on Wednesday, saying his fellow Bicolano solon must have forgotten that for almost 15 years he did not question the unprogrammed appropriations.

“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?” the Ako Bicol lawmaker said in a statement.

On Monday (January 15), Lagman challenged before the Supreme Court (SC) the constitutionality of the excess of P449.54-billion allocation in the unprogrammed appropriations, which he claimed was “clandestinely” embedded in the 2024 national budget.

Bicolanos are proud to be referred to as “oragon” which Maharlika NuMedia learned that it means “somebody who is feisty, determined, principled, a fighter, unafraid of consequences, and who stands up for his(/her) principles.”

Co pointed out that when Lagman was a member of the Bicameral Conference Committee in 2023, “he also approved unprogrammed funds of the same amount as 2024.”

“Perhaps the gentleman from the first district of Albay is becoming more forgetful,” Co added.

Lagman sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) or a writ of preliminary injunction restraining the respondents from funding, releasing, and implementing the unprogrammed funds.

In a statement, Lagman said the President in his National Expenditure Program (NEP) proposed a ceiling of only P281.9 billion for unprogrammed appropriations which the Congress is prohibited from increasing under the constitution.

“The excess of P449.5-B over the P289.1-B proposed by the President for unprogrammed appropriations is an unconstitutional act of the Congress which is tainted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of congressional jurisdiction, and perforce must be nullified,” said Lagman, president of the once ruling and now fledgling Liberal Party (LP).    

(el Amigo/MNM)