SENATOR Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said Thursday, September 11, 2025, that there was indeed P355 million worth of insertions in the 2025 national budget.
During the Kapihan sa Senado, Lacson, the newly elected chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, said the P355 million insertions, which were allocated for five flood-control projects in the province of Bulacan, were not included in the 2025 National Expenditures Program (NEP) nor in the House General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
The NEP is the proposed national budget of the President, which is submitted to Congress for deliberation and enactment into law, while the GAB is a proposed national budget bill that originates from the House of Representatives following deliberation of the NEP.
“Maliwanag na either sa Senate version o sa Bicam (Bicameral Conference Committee) 'yun (naipasok),” Lacson said.
During the resumption of the House Joint Committees on Public Accounts, Public Works and Highways, and Good Government and Public Accountability inquiry into anomalous flood control projects on Tuesday, September 9, former Bulacan First District assistant engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez claimed that Senator Jinggoy Estrada redirected P355 million in flood-mitigation project funds to the city of Malolos and the towns of Hagonoy and Calumpit in Bulacan in exchange for a 30 percent "commission."
Estrada has denied these claims, even challenging Hernandez to a lie-detector test.
Lacson said he has yet to identify the proponent of the inserted budget. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)