Lacson flags P100-billion insertions in 2025 budget

SENATOR Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson on Sunday said senators of the previous Congress inserted at least P100 billion worth of items into this year’s P6.79-trillion national budget.

In a statement, Mr. Lacson said “almost all” senators had individual amendments to the budget, with allocations ranging from P5 billion to P9 billion each. These were tagged as “for later release.” He did not name specific lawmakers.

“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.

He added that he has yet to review the list of insertions made by congressmen, which he described as “long.”

Mr. Lacson said the magnitude of congressional insertions has ballooned compared with the amounts under the now-defunct Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel, which the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional in 2013.

“It was humongous,” said Mr. Lacson, who heads the blue ribbon committee. “I have never seen such amounts. Before PDAF was declared unconstitutional, ‘pork’ amounted to hundreds of millions. Now it’s at least P100 billion total for 24 senators alone.”

The 2025 GAA has drawn criticism over congressional insertions. President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. delayed signing the budget for more than a week in December to review its provisions before vetoing more than P194 billion worth of items deemed inconsistent with his administration’s priorities.

Mr. Lacson warned that large-scale insertions could strain the economy by diverting funds from programs that should be implemented at the village, city or regional levels.

He said he would raise the issue during budget deliberations, asking agencies why they allowed such items. “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.

He also urged lawmakers to exercise restraint in pushing for locally funded infrastructure projects, which have come under scrutiny amid reports of ghost and anomalous flood control programs. — Adrian H. Halili