Palace defends DBM's withholding of congressional initiative funds

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is withholding funds for congressional initiatives pending compliance with requirements, a move defended by Malacañang on Thursday.

Senator Panfilo Lacson called the DBM's decision to tag these funds as For Later Release (FLR) 'arbitrary', rendering Congress' role in the budget process useless.

Lacson estimated that hundreds of billions of pesos have been impounded under this policy, with the FLR classification effectively preventing the release of these funds.