Says items inserted by ’almost all’ senators
SENATE President pro tempore Panfilo Lacson yesterday said `almost all’ senators of the 19th Congress have inserted a total of some P100 billion worth of items in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.
He said documents showed these were “individual insertions” but they were eventually held for later release (FLR).
“In the Senate alone, 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 Filipino in an interview with radio dzMM.
He said it was the first time he discovered such huge amount of insertions since the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), which he said amounted to only hundreds of millions of pesos.
The PDAF, also called the “pork barrel” of lawmakers, was abolished in 2013 after the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional amid reports of fund abuses.
“I have never seen such amounts. Before the Priority Assistance Development Fund was declared unconstitutional in 2013, ‘pork’ amounted to hundreds of millions. Now at least P100 billion total for 24 senators alone,” he said.
Lacson said he has to scrutinize the list of House members congressmen involved in the insertions, but the list is “long.”
Lacson also said insertions or amendments per se are “not necessarily illegal” but they are questionable if individual insertions amount to P5 billion or even P9 billion.
He said the insertions could have an adverse effect on the economy because fund that are withheld or diverted could have been allotted to infrastructure programs which were already planned and vetted at the barangay, city, and regional levels.
With this, he said, he may ask the concerned agencies why such insertions were allowed, when the Senate deliberates on the proposed national budget for 2026
“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 added.
SELF-RESTRAINT
He also called on his fellow lawmakers not to avail themselves of the “leadership fund” in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which allows solons to insert projects at the National Expenditure Program level.
Lacson said would have called for “self-restraint, especially involving funds for local infrastructure projects under the authority of the district engineering office,” during a meeting of Senate and House leaders scheduled last Friday. The meeting was postponed due to bad weather.
“It would have been a remedial or corrective measure,” he added.
Lacson has asked his fellow lawmakers to practice self-restraint in inserting appropriations for locally-funded infrastructure projects, and not only in the DPWH but also in other agencies such as the Department of Education and Department of Transportation, whose budgets include infrastructure projects.
In an interview on radio DWIZ last Saturday, Lacson said Congress must start on the path to redemption by ensuring a transparent and pork-free budget, after it lost the public’s trust as it is considered the source of the “original sin” of corruption as shown by recently discovered 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 deliberations,” he added.
Sen. Erwin Tulfo said insertions in the budget can be prevented if lawmakers will serve only as conduits between the DPWH and local government units, and keep their hands off in identifying infrastructure projects.
He said he is also open to the idea of creating a DPWH provincial office, thus abolishing district engineering offices which are controlled by congressmen.
BRC HEARING
Tulfo said the Blue Ribbon Committee may need only one or two more hearings on the anomalous flood control projects then come up with an initial committee report.
He said the committee will allow the Independent Commission for Infrastructure ICI) to get hold of all the pieces of evidence that will be gathered during the past hearings.
“Then we will just focus on the initial committee report for the measures that will be made, especially in matters concerning the PCAB (Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board) and the NEP (National Expenditure Program) so lawmakers cannot tinker with it,” he said.
He said allowing the ICI to investigate the anomalous government projects will be right because it was created by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. precisely to look into the irregularities.
SUBPOENA
Sen. Rodante Marcoleta said he will ask the Blue Ribbon Committee to subpoena notarial records of lawyer Petchi Rosa Espera, a notary public, as he expressed belief that the sworn affidavit of Orly Regala Guteza, the “surprise witness” in the last committee hearing last Thursday, was prepared in the lawyer’s office.
This was after Espera, hours after the hearing ended, denied she signed Guteza’s sworn affidavit.
Marcoleta said it would have been impossible for Guteza to fill out by himself detailed information of his sworn affidavit on which the “document number and the page number” were indicated.
Guteza’s sworn affidavit was labelled “Document 255, Page 51” Series of 2025, and was rubber stamped with the name of Espera.
“Kung sasabihin niyang (Espera) na hindi niya pirma, nasa kanya yun. Pero hindi
Guteza, a retired Marine who was presented by Marcoleta, said he has worked as security consultant of Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co and delivered suitcases loaded with millions of pesos to the condominium unit of the congressman in Taguig City and to the house of former Speaker Martin Romualdez in Forbes Park.
