LACSON UNCOVERS AT LEAST P100B IN SENATORS’ INSERTIONS IN 2025 BUDGET

AT least P100 billion worth of items were inserted by “almost all” senators in the 19th Congress in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson bared on Sunday.

Lacson, an eagle-eyed watchdog of the national budget, cited documents he gathered indicating that these were individual insertions, although they were eventually held for later release (FLR).

“Sa Senate pa lang, at least P100 billion. Nagulat nga ako, sa individual insertions na ito na ngayon ay naka FLR,” he said in an interview on DZMM radio.

“Pagkalalaki. Never pa ako nakakita kasi noong araw di pa declared unconstitutional ang PDAF nandoon lang sa hundreds of millions. E ngayon nakita ko ang total, kabuuan at least P100 billion sa 24 senador pa lamang,” he added.

He said he has yet to scrutinize the list of House members, but noted that the list of congressmen who made similar insertions is long. “Ang haba ng listahan din,” said Lacson.

Lacson said he may ask the agencies concerned during the upcoming budget deliberations why such insertions were allowed.

“Sa budget deliberation pwede ko tanungin ito bakit pinayagan ito. Ang pagbusisi, lalo sa plenary, gusto kong malaman ilan sa siningit na insertion ang na-release at papaano na-implement ” he said, adding he is concerned about the release of unprogrammed appropriations.

Lacson said that while insertions or amendments per se are not necessarily illegal, they are questionable especially if individual insertions amount to 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 said.

Lacson reiterated his call to fellow lawmakers to practice self-restraint in inserting appropriations for locally funded infrastructure projects not just in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) but in other agencies like the Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Transportation (DoTr), whose budgets include infrastructure projects.

He likewise appealed to fellow lawmakers not to avail of the so-called “leadership fund” in the DPWH that allows lawmakers to insert projects at the level of the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

REDEMPTION FROM ‘ORIGINAL SIN’ OF CORRUPTION

Meanwhile, Lacson said Congress, after losing public trust over the “original sin” of corruption exposed in the flood control project scandal, must now start on the path to redemption by ensuring a transparent and pork-free budget.

Lacson said the Senate cannot deny that it now faces a crisis after some incumbent and former members were linked to alleged kickbacks in anomalous 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 in an interview on DWIZ Saturday.

Lacson said a meeting was set for last Friday between the Senate and House leaderships but 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 chairman 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.