Tag: 2025 budget

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Lacson Flags P2.5B ‘Allocables’ Tied to Imee in 2025 NEP; Questions Silence in Bicam

People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson stressed this on Sunday as he flagged P2.5 billion in allocables tied to Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios “Imee” Marcos in the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP), as well as her silence on supposed “giniling” or “pork” when the 2026 budget bill was being tackled at the bicameral conference level.

Lacson said these are based on documents he received from the camp of the late Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Catalina Cabral.

“Marcos had allocables worth P2.5 billion in the NEP according to the Cabral files. Most allocables were moved from the NEP to the 2025 GAA via insertions in the bicam where Sen. Marcos had at least the same amount based on DPWH records… While part of the insertions were flagged for later release, part of her FLR allocables had been released,” he said in English and Filipino, in an interview on DZBB radio.

“She makes a lot of noise criticizing the 2026 budget for having ‘pork’ but she had ‘pork’ in the budget, at least in the 2025 GAA. So she has no moral ascendancy to criticize. In the first place, she was a member of the Senate contingent in the bicameral conference committee. Why didn’t she raise the issue that there was pork? We heard nothing from her then, when she was in the bicam,” he added.

In Filipino: Lacson, Sinita ang P2.5B ‘Allocables’ ni Imee sa 2025 NEP; Kinuwestiyon ang Katahimikan sa Bicam

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Lacson Turning Up Heat on Corruption in 2026, Hopes President to Do the Same

In the Year of the Fire Horse, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson will turn up the heat against corruption, even as he hopes President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will bring the same fire to the fight.

Lacson said the Filipino people expect no less from their public servants, as they have become more awake and angry after learning how their hard-earned tax money was plundered.

“On a personal note, I thank 2025 for bringing me back all my staff that I left behind in 2022, plus a few assets more. With renewed tenacity and hard work, I am even more encouraged to expose more corruption issues that are similar to what has become the most blatant and unprecedented misuse and abuse of the national budget since I left the Senate three years ago,” he said.

“With a more awakened and angrier citizenry who have never been exposed before to more detailed acts of corruption and plunder of their hard-earned tax money, our national leaders have to brace themselves to address more corruption issues in 2026,” he added.

In Filipino: Lacson, Lalong Paiinitin ang Laban vs Korapsyon sa 2026, Umaasang Ganoon Din ang Gagawin ng Pangulo

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Lacson to Fellow Lawmakers: Revelations on Huge Budget Insertions a Wake-Up Call to Make 2026 Budget Pork-Free

The revelations on humongous budget insertions by the Senate and House of Representatives in the 2025 budget is not meant to put anyone on the spot but be a chance for both houses of Congress to heed the public’s outrage against corruption and ensure a pork-free budget for 2026 and beyond, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson said Tuesday.

Lacson said he explained this to fellow senators in a caucus Monday, where some of them voiced concerns that the revelation over the insertions could affect the institution.

“I can actually feel and understand completely the sentiments expressed by my colleagues, at least the members of the majority bloc during our majority caucus yesterday, so I explained to them that the mention of ‘almost all senators’ was not intended to put them or the whole Senate on the spot, nor did I have the intention of calling them out particularly,” Lacson said.

“The overarching reason for my disclosure or revelation was to point out that we must accept the fact that we are all in crisis owing to the recent anomalies involving the substandard and even ghost flood control projects unearthed in the course of the Blue Ribbon Committee hearings and other similar investigations,” he added.

In Filipino: Lacson sa mga Kapwa Mambabatas: Pagbubunyag ng Malalaking Budget Insertions, Pampagising Para Alisin ang Pork sa Budget

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Lacson Uncovers 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 bilyon. Nagulat nga ako, sa individual insertions ito, ito naka-FLR ngayon (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 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 (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 P100 billion total for 24 senators alone),” he added.

In Filipino: Lacson, Ibinunyag ang Mahigit ₱100B Insertion ng mga Senador sa 2025 Budget

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Lacson in ‘Sagasa Mode,’ Waiting for ‘Receipts’ on Flood Control Project Commissions to Senators

After confirming multimillion-peso budget insertions in 2023 and 2025 tied to Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada, Senate President Pro Tempore and Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson is now waiting for “receipts” or proof of commissions they allegedly got from flood control projects.

Lacson said Friday that the “receipts” will aid in crafting stronger anti-corruption and accountability measures, as well as help the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and other prosecution bodies like the Ombudsman or Department of Justice.

In radio and TV interviews Friday morning, Lacson said he will ask Senate President Vicente Sotto III to allow ex-Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer Brice Hernandez to leave the Senate premises under escort, to produce these “receipts.” Hernandez had given details linking the two senators and a member of the House of Representatives to the insertions and claimed they got 30% commissions from flood control projects.

In Filipino: Lacson, ‘Sagasa Mode’ Na, Naghihintay ng ‘Resibo’ sa Flood Control Komisyon ng mga Senador

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