Senator Panfilo Lacson, chair of the Subcommittee “E” of the Senate Committee on Finance, quizzes officials from the Department of National Defense (DND) during the hearing on the department’s P195.4 billion proposed budget for 2018 on Thursday, September 14, 2017. Officials from the DND explained that next year’s budget would be used to complete the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ modernization program, to purchase military equipment and to build a new veterans’ hospital outside of Manila, among others. Also in photo is Senator Gregorio Honasan II. (Photo by Romeo Bugante)