May the force be with us.
On this note, Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson stressed that public vigilance on the 2026 budget must not stop at its approval and signing into law but must continue through its implementation.
Lacson said that while religious and civil society groups monitored the bicameral debates on the crafting of the budget bill, their next challenge is to guard how the executive branch spends taxpayers’ money in 2026.
“The same vigilance shown by the public led by the Catholic Church, religious groups and civil society organizations must be maintained in watching over the budget’s implementation,” the veteran legislator said.
“We must learn from the lessons of corruption in the budgets of 2025 and prior years.”
“Our people must not let down their guard because the 2026 budget will show if there is indeed reform for our government and our nation. We must learn from the lessons of corruption in the budgets of 2025 and prior years,” the seasoned lawmaker added.
The senator also said that while majority of his colleagues in the Senate share his reform-minded mentality, there are only 24 senators.
As such, he said they need the support of the public in flagging wrongdoing in the implementation of the 2026 budget.
“May the force be with us.”
“I hope that since there are only 24 of us, we should have the support of many Filipinos. So I will say, may the force be with us,” Lacson said.
Earlier, he said the Senate decided to put in place several general and special provisions to serve as safety nets and safeguards at least in the execution of the 2026 budget measure.
These included absolutely no guarantee letters allowed and any form of ‘epal’ for all ‘ayudas’; Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) should be implemented strictly under the auspices of Universal Health Care program and in pursuit of complying with the UHC law; and a monthly oversight on infra and FMR projects implementation, complete with grid coordinates for easy monitoring by media and the public.
