Lacson refutes VP spokesperson's claim on impeachment costs

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Senator Panfilo Lacson wants the spokesperson of Vice President Sara Duterte to correct his claims that the Senate spent P500 million for the impeachment trial, questioning how the latter even came up with the number.

In a "24 Oras" report from Sandra Aguinaldo on Wednesday, Duterte’s spokesperson Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. said that 20 trial days were spent on the two articles of impeachment that were dropped, namely Articles I and IV.

"That is approximately P25 million in Senate operating cost per day, or P500 million of taxpayers' money, consumed on charges that will never be voted on,” Panelo said.

However, Lacson questioned where Panelo got this estimate. The national budget only allotted P27 million for the entire impeachment trial. Around P2 million of this was spent on robes and other expenses for the trial.

"The P25 million per day clearly refers to the legislative functions of the Senate, not to the impeachment trial as misinterpreted, and the basis was the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) and Personnel Services (PS) for one year, which I computed on a per-day basis when the Cayetano-led boycott resulted in zero-legislation output due to lack of quorum after his ouster as Senate President," Lacson said in a statement.

"I urge the VP's spokesman to rectify an obviously misleading figure of P500 million, as I assume it was an honest mistake on his part," he added.

In response, Panelo said that the expense was based on Senate President Win Gatchalian’s earlier estimate, which included expenses on salaries, electricity, utilities, and operating expenses.

Gatchalian later responded to Panelo’s claims in a statement, calling it untrue.

“That figure represents the cost of operating the entire Senate, including personnel and senators’ salaries, maintenance, rentals, and utilities. The Senate spends it with or without an impeachment trial,” Gatchalian said.

“The expenses directly attributable to the trial totaled P14,553,561.70 over 44 trial days, or an average of about P330,763 per day. These covered meals for personnel during extended sessions, supplies, overtime pay, and the rental of an outside venue for budget deliberations, as the trial occupied most of the Senate’s available rooms,” he added. —LDF, GMA News