SENATE President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said Monday, September 29, 2025, that amendments or insertions in the proposed national budget are part of the regular budget process.
In a statement, Sotto said some amendments in the proposed budget are intended for additional classrooms, farm-to-market roads, and bridges that would benefit Filipinos, especially those in far-flung provinces.
He said some of these projects were never funded and were tagged for later release (FLR).
“Amendments or insertions, whether individual or institutional, done during the deliberations in the Senate are part of the regular budget process,” Sotto said.
“It is unfortunate that the issue on ghost projects and failed flood control projects affect and generalize all amendments as illegal or improper,” he added.
Sotto, however, assured that the Senate will introduce changes in the 2026 national budget “for greater transparency, people’s participation and accountability.”
On Sunday, September 28, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said there were at least P100 billion worth of items inserted in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) by “almost all” senators in the 19th Congress.
He said there was also a “long list” of similar insertions by House lawmakers in the 2025 GAA, but he has yet to scrutinize it.
Insertions in the national budget have become a hot topic amid investigations into anomalous flood control projects ordered by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
The practice is being likened to pork barrel, or allocations for government spending on localized projects in a lawmaker’s district, often used to secure direct expenditures serving the representative’s interests.
Several lawmakers from both chambers of Congress have been accused of pocketing billions of pesos in public funds intended for flood control projects. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)