MANILA — Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson called for a ban on lawmakers’ insertions for infrastructure projects in the national budget, warning that such practices are at the root of massive corruption that has fueled recent public outrage and protests.

“Both houses of Congress must agree not to make insertions for infrastructure projects. Institutional amendments are allowed but other insertions must be removed,” Lacson said in Filipino during a DZBB radio interview.

He argued that once these insertions are eliminated, corrupt officials in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) would no longer have access to funds that could be misused.

“This should apply not just to unprogrammed appropriations. Lawmakers simply must not meddle in infrastructure projects because that is the root of this massive corruption,” he said.

Lacson, known for his scrutiny of the national budget, pointed out that Congress “starts the corruption” by inserting projects involving hundreds of billions of pesos.

Instead, he said lawmakers should focus on institutional amendments, citing the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) as an example. The AMLC’s proposed 2026 budget of ₱333.1 million was reduced to ₱170.161 million in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

“I plan to help restore its proposed budget because the AMLC plays a vital role such as freezing accounts and monitoring covered persons,” Lacson said.

Lacson also urged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to be more circumspect in recommending the use of unprogrammed appropriations.

While he shared Senate finance committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian’s concern that unprogrammed funds may serve as a form of pork barrel, Lacson cautioned against abolishing them outright. He noted that such funds are often used to finance foreign-assisted and big-ticket projects when local funding falls short.

During last week’s Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Lacson cited documents from Gatchalian showing that ₱600 million supposedly for flood control projects in Bulacan was placed under the 2023 Unprogrammed Fund. The projects were linked to dismissed DPWH engineer Brice Hernandez, who had earlier been associated with Sen. Joel Villanueva — an allegation Villanueva denied.

“We must study this because removing the unprogrammed funds altogether may affect foreign-assisted projects that need augmentation,” Lacson said.