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'Misplaced generosity' of solons, not Arroyo, behind P4.3-B 'pork barrel': lawmaker

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/12/06/20180723-congress-sona-arroyo-jc-05.jpg"/></figure></div><p>MANILA - The House Appropriations Committee, not Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is responsible for the P4.3 billion alleged &quot;pork barrel&quot; in the proposed 2019 national budget, a leader of the lower chamber said Thursday. </p><p>Senator Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday claimed that a male lawmaker from Camarines Sur and the second district of Pampanga represented by Arroyo cornered the bulk of congressional insertions under the General Appropriations bill for next year. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/05/18/pampanga-camarines-sur-top-list-of-congressional-insertions-lacson">Pampanga, Camarines Sur top list of congressional insertions: Lacson </a></li></ul><p>The Pampanga district is getting P2.4 billion worth of projects while the Camarines Sur lawmaker ended up with P1.9 billion worth of projects, he said. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><div id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1_Container"> <ivs-player id="IVS_ABS_Body_Video_1" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-vid="1397053" data-ivs-floating="1"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/iframe-parent.js"></script> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script> </div></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya, who represents the first district of Camarines Sur, said Arroyo earlier instructed the House Appropriations Committee to equally give P60 million to each congressman. </p><p>&quot;Ang instruction was only pantay-pantay. Tanda ko pa nga iyung terminolohiya na ginamit, iyung &#x27;bare minimum,&#x27;&quot; he told radio DZMM. </p><p>(The instruction was to give equal funding. I remember that the terminology used was &quot;bare minimum.&quot;) </p><p>He also denied that he asked additional funding for road projects in his district. </p><p>On the contrary, he said he urged the appropriations panel to refrain from making insertions in the budget without notifying the Senate. </p><p>The committee, however, did not heed his advice, claimed Andaya. </p><p>Instead, it may have displayed &quot;misplaced generosity&quot; when it granted the requests of public works regional directors for funding for flood control projects in Pampanga and road projects in Camarines Sur, he said. </p><p>&quot;Mukhang naging, let&#x27;s say, misplaced generosity. Ang napuruhan tuloy ay iyung taong nagpipigil pa,&quot; Andaya said. </p><p>(It seems that it became, let&#x27;s say, a case of misplaced generosity so that those who tried to stop the insertions are now under fire.) <br/> <br/>The House leadership, he said, will help the Senate analyze data on the 2019 budget. </p><p>House Appropriations Committee Senior Vice Chair Maria Carmen Zamora has disputed the figures released by Lacson to the media. </p><p>&quot;Personally I do not know where the good senator got his figures because when I checked all our records I don&#x27;t see any congressperson na may ganung kalaking increase when you compare the NEP (National Expenditure Program) to the 3rd reading version natin sa Congress,&quot; she said.</p><p>Zamora also denied that Arroyo’s district got a windfall because of the House. The area, she said, already had a big allocation in the National Expenditure Program, which is the original budget proposal of the President. </p>

<p>The Pampanga district represented by Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo got P2.4 billion worth of projects for 2019 while the Camarines Sur lawmaker ended up with P1.9 billion worth of projects.</p>

The Pampanga district represented by Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo got P2.4 billion worth of projects for 2019 while the Camarines Sur lawmaker ended up with P1.9 billion worth of projects.