SENATE Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said there were at least a total of P100 billion worth of items inserted in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) by “almost all” senators in the 19th Congress.
In a radio interview on Sunday, September 28, 2025, Lacson said he secured various documents indicating that these were individual insertions, although they were eventually held for later release (FLR).
(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.')
“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,” he added.
(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.)
Lacson said there was also a “long list” of similar insertions by lawmakers from the House of Representatives in the 2025 GAA but he has yet to scrutinize it.
He said he intends to ask concerned government agencies why such insertions were allowed during the upcoming budget deliberations.
Lacson said he is concerned particularly about the release of unprogrammed appropriations.
(At the budget deliberation, I can ask why these insertions were allowed. In scrutinizing the budget especially in the plenary, I want to know how much of the insertions were released and how they were implemented.)
Lacson said that while insertions or amendments per se are not necessarily illegal, they are questionable especially if individual insertions amount to P5 billion or even P9 billion, noting that it could threaten the economy because the withheld or diverted funds could have gone to infrastructure programs that were planned and vetted at the barangay, city and regional levels.
He urged fellow lawmakers in the upper chamber to practice self-restraint in inserting appropriations for locally funded infrastructure projects not just in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) but in other agencies like the Department of Education and Department of Transportation.
Lacson also made a call for senators not to avail themselves of the so-called "leadership fund" in the DPWH that allows lawmakers to insert projects at the level of the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
He said the Congress must now start on the path to redemption by ensuring a transparent and pork-free budget.
Several senators and congressmen were accused of pocketing billions of kickbacks from flood control projects across the country.
In-depth investigations into anomalous flood control projects were launched on the orders of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in light of massive flooding that submerged communities following a series of severe weather conditions. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)