MANILA – The House of Representatives cannot return the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026 to Malacañang despite alleged “mangled” entries, but the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) may submit errata sheets through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for Congress’ consideration, Senator Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson said Thursday.

“BUDGET 101: Congress cannot return the NEP to Malacañang since it is only a budget proposal, not an Enrolled Bill for approval or line-item veto by the President. However, the DPWH through the DBM may submit errata sheets but it is up to Congress to adopt such ‘errata’ or not,” Lacson said in a post on X.

The senator made the suggestion after House party leaders sought to return the NEP to the Palace. House Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno earlier said lawmakers may need to “practically redo” the submission and avoid suspicion of irregularities.

Lacson, known for scrutinizing the budget, noted that if President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had not called out Congress in the wake of floods brought by successive cyclones, the alleged budget “mangling” would have continued unchecked.

Earlier this week, Lacson and other senators flagged questionable entries in the NEP that he said showed possible collusion between the DPWH and legislators.

He cited the case of Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III, whose staff was contacted by a DPWH representative after the May elections and was offered the chance to propose insertions into the agency’s budget. Sotto declined.

“Had PBBM not called out Congress after typhoons Crising, Dante and Emong caused a swath of destruction last August, the mangling of the national budget would have remained unabated. The discovery of red flags in the NEP ‘insertions’ exposes collusion between DPWH and legislators,” Lacson said.