Ping: Senators inserted P100B in current budget
“Almost all” senators of the 19th Congress inserted at least P100 billion worth of items in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said on Sunday.
The Senate President Pro Tempore and blue ribbon committee chair cited documents he had gathered showing these were individual insertions, although they were eventually held “for later release.”
Lacson said he has yet to scrutinize the list of House members, but already noted that the roster of congressmen who made similar insertions is lengthy.
“For the Senate, the insertions amounted to at least P100 billion. I was surprised because these are individual insertions although they were held ‘for later release,’” he said in an interview on radio dzMM.
“It was humongous,” he said. “I have never seen such amounts. Before the Priority Development Assistance Fund was declared unconstitutional in 2013, ‘pork’ amounted to hundreds of millions. Now it’s at least P100 billion in total for 24 senators alone.”
While insertions or amendments are not necessarily illegal, Lacson said they are questionable, especially when each individual inserts P5 billion or even P9 billion.
“Such insertions could threaten the economy because the withheld or diverted funds could have gone to infrastructure programs that were planned and vetted at the barangay, city and regional levels,” he pointed out.
Lacson said he may ask the relevant agencies during the upcoming budget deliberations why such insertions were allowed.
“In scrutinizing the budget, especially in the plenary, I want to know how much of the insertions were released and how they were implemented,” he said, adding he was concerned about the release of unprogrammed appropriations.
Role of lawmakers
Meanwhile, Sen. Erwin Tulfo said Congress should be excluded from the government’s infrastructure projects since its job is not to craft budget proposals, but to create and amend laws.
He said senators should relay the needed budget of mayors and other local government units to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“The lawmaker’s job is not to make budget insertions. Give funds to the DPWH. For example, when a locality needs a bridge, the mayor will relay it to the DPWH through a senator. The senator will write a letter to the DPWH so that the agency can contact the mayor,” Tulfo said in an interview on radio dzBB on Sunday.
“This is to prevent lawmakers from interfering, since their job is to create laws, not to run the DPWH or handle project bidding,” he said.
Lacson also said he is studying whether the blue ribbon committee can release a partial report on its investigation into the flood control corruption scandal.
He said he could not say how many more hearings would be conducted, but emphasized that the committee’s investigation will focus on substance and substantial issues.
Self-restraint
Lacson also reiterated his call to fellow lawmakers to practice self-restraint in inserting appropriations for locally funded infrastructure projects, not just in the DPWH but in other agencies such as the departments of education and of transportation, whose budgets include infrastructure projects.
He likewise appealed to lawmakers not to avail themselves of the so-called “leadership fund” in the DPWH that allows lawmakers to insert projects at the level of the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
The former police chief-turned-senator said Congress, after losing public trust over corruption exposed in the flood-control project scandal, must now start on the path to redemption by ensuring a transparent and pork-free budget.
He said the Senate cannot deny that it now faces a crisis after some incumbent and former members were linked to alleged kickbacks in flood control projects.
“We must start the process of reform with the preparations for the 2026 budget. The timing is right because the budget bill is now under deliberation,” he said.
Meeting postponed
Lacson said a meeting was set last Friday between the Senate and House leaders but this was postponed due to bad weather.
The Senate contingent would have included Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Lacson, majority floor leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and finance committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian.
The House contingent would have been led by Speaker Faustino Dy III.
“Had the meeting pushed through, I would have made a call for self-restraint, especially involving funds for local infrastructure projects under the authority of the district engineering office. It would have been a remedial or corrective measure,” he said.
Tighter scrutiny
Former Senate President Franklin Drilon also said the flood-control controversy underscored the need for tighter scrutiny of amendments introduced by lawmakers in the GAA.
He proposed that all projects not part of the NEP be placed “for later release,” subject to a thorough review before funds are made available.
“Budget amendments cannot be avoided in Congress. But insertions should not be released unless they are properly examined. That is one way to prevent this from happening again,” Drilon said in a statement on Sunday.
Policy reforms
Drilon also lamented how the Senate has become “adversarial and divisive” in its handling of the controversy, saying the focus should remain on policy reforms rather than political infighting.
He said the ongoing investigation into flood works should lead to stronger safeguards in the national budget process, warning that congressional insertions remain vulnerable to abuse.
“Something should happen in this investigation—send people behind this mess to jail and return the public funds,” Drilon said
But he said Congress should not lose sight of its primary duty. “Let’s not forget that this is in aid of legislation, not prosecution,” Drilon said.
