19th Congress senators inserted P100B in 2025 GAA — Lacson

“Almost all” the senators of the 19th Congress inserted at least P100 billion worth of items in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA), Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo "Ping" Lacson said Sunday.

"Sa Senate pa lang, at least P100 bilyon. Nagulat nga ako, sa individual insertions ito, ito naka-FLR ngayon," Lacson said in a statement.

(In 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.)

"Pagkala-laki. 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 big. 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.)

GMA News Online has reached out to former Senate president Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero for comment. He earlier denied the existence and involvement in a “small committee” that allegedly made budget insertions in the bicameral conference committee,

Lacson also said he has yet to look into the House of Representatives, adding that the list of lawmakers who made similar insertions is long.

Although insertions or amendments are not necessarily illegal, Lacson pointed out that it is questionable since individual insertions amount to P5 billion or even P9 billion.

"Sa budget deliberation pwede ko tanungin ito bakit pinayagan ito. Ang pagbusisi, lalo sa plenary, gusto kong malaman ilan sa siningit na insertion ang na-release at papaano na-implement," he said.

(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.)

According to a “24 Oras” report, budget insertions were allegedly done at the National Expenditure Program (NEP), through a so-called "small committee",  the Bicameral Conference Committee, and the contractors bidding the government projects.

Lacson once again urged his fellow lawmakers to practice self-restraint with budget insertions.

"Had the meeting pushed through, I would have made a call for self-restraint, especially involving funds for local infrastructure projects under the authority of the District Engineering Office. It would have been a remedial or corrective measure," Lacson said.

The senator was referring to the meeting set last Friday between the Senate and House of Representatives, but it was postponed due to the bad weather. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News