Senator Ping Lacson warned other government agencies against brazenly offering budget funds to senators, following his disclosure of an P5-million “allocation fund” offer linked to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
Lacson also instructed his staff to provide TESDA Secretary Jose Francisco Benitez with all available details of the “offer” to help in its internal investigation of the incident.
“Huwag ganoon katapang.”
“They didn’t know me, now they do. Huwag ganoon katapang. Ang tapang-tapang mag-offer. E tulad niyan na-offer-an mo, ayaw tumanggap, ma-expose pa ahensya nyo, magpapaliwanag pa,” the veteran legislator said in an interview on DWIZ radio.
“Pangit ‘yan, siguradong pera ng gobyerno ‘yan, sa budget ‘yan, bakit mo pamimigay?” the seasoned lawmaker added.
Lacson earlier disclosed he rejected a P5-million “allocation fund” relayed through his Senate staff. Lacson said he will seek clarification on the matter when the TESDA’s 2027 budget comes up for plenary debate in November.
Following Lacson’s expose, Benitez issued a statement denying he authorized anyone to offer any allocation, and that he had ordered an immediate internal investigation into the matter.
“I instructed my staff to provide the good secretary with all available details to help their internal investigation get to the bottom of the issue.”
“I instructed my staff to provide the good secretary with all available details to help their internal investigation get to the bottom of the issue,” he said.
In the DWIZ interview, Lacson said initial information he received indicated the one who relayed the “offer,” a certain “Stephanie,” was a “liaison officer” who was assigned to contact him.
Since he had no way to immediately determine if “Stephanie” was a fixer for TESDA, Lacson decided to expose the “offer” to make it clear that he had not accepted it.
Lacson has consistently rejected “pork” in all its forms, as well as bribe offers a.k.a. lobby money in exchange for voting for or against a legislative measure and in the conduct of inquiries in aid of legislation.
