Senate blue ribbon panel chair Panfilo Lacson disclosed that “almost all” senators in the 19th Congress inserted at least 100 billion pesos (RM7.2bil) worth of items in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
The Senate president pro tempore yesterday cited documents he had gathered showing that these were individual insertions, although they were eventually held for later release.
While he has yet to review the list of House members, Lacson noted that the roster of congressmen who made similar insertions is lengthy.
“For the Senate, the insertions amounted to at least 100 billion pesos.
“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. 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 100 billion pesos total for senators alone,” he added.
While insertions or amendments are not necessarily illegal, Lacson said they are questionable, especially when individual insertions go as high as nine billion pesos (RM649.5mil).
“Such insertions could threaten the economy because the withheld or diverted funds could have gone to infrastructure programmes that were planned and vetted at the barangay, city and regional levels,” he said.
Lacson said he may ask the relevant agencies during the upcoming budget deliberations why such insertions were allowed.
“At the budget deliberation, I can ask why these insertions were allowed.
“In scrutinising 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 that he is concerned about the release of unprogrammed appropriations. — Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
