It is not clear who former Senator Panfilo Lacson was hitting with his column that carried the line “makonsyensya naman” as the country’s debts in 2023 surpassed P1 trillion.
Lacson’s column, which appeared in the Politiko.com website on March 11, said the government debt payments in 2023 jumped by 24 percent to a high of P1.6 trillion that it paid in 2022. The rising debt service is driven by increases in interest and amortization payment.
As of December 2023, the country’s outstanding debt was P14.62 trillion.
Lacson warned against the return of pork barrel. “Unless we temper greed with conscience in wasting public funds, hopelessness will outpace our children's future.”
The country’s debt service in 2023 was P1.6 trillion which was our entire national budget in 2011, Lacson emphasized.
The former senator appealed for fiscal prudence amid concerns after the country's debt service reached a record-high of P1.6 trillion in 2023.
Lacson said he is increasingly worried about the country’s ballooning debts.
The former senator also appealed for an end to greed and reckless public spending after the country’s debt payments reached P1.6 trillion last year.
Ballooning debt
Public spending has risen with the numerous and luxurious foreign travels of the bloated presidential entourage, the continued bloating of the bureaucracy (as payback for the support to presidential candidates), pork barrel and billion-dollar infrastructure projects (both ongoing and those for approval by the current administration).
In citing the need to prioritize fiscal responsibility, he cautioned about the potential threat on the future of Filipino kids if the national debts continue to pile up.
“The country’s debt service in 2023 was P1.6 trillion, which was our entire national budget in 2011,” Lacson wrote on X on March 11.
“Unless we temper greed with conscience in wasting public funds, hopelessness will outpace our children’s future,” he added.
The country’s reached a record-high of P1.6 trillion last year, exceeding its targets, based on data from the Bureau of Treasury data.
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