MANILA – Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said the House of Representatives also introduced massive amendments to the 2025 budget, stressing that while budget insertions are not illegal, they have been abused by lawmakers.

“Introducing insertions are not illegal. It is our mandate as lawmakers to review the National Expenditure Program and introduce amendments. The problem is that many lawmakers abused this mandate,” Lacson said in an interview over DZBB radio.

The senator, known as a staunch budget watchdog, said the Senate alone introduced over P100 billion worth of insertions to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget, mostly for infrastructure and flood control projects. He said the House made even bigger insertions, citing documents showing a list of members who made amendments arranged in alphabetical order.

“It was like a roll call,” Lacson remarked, adding that the amount exceeded what senators had inserted.

He said the practice has fueled corruption, with lawmakers allegedly colluding with district engineers and former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo to carve out kickbacks.

“You see the DPWH getting a bigger budget than the education sector because everyone involved got greedier and greedier, and stuffed the DPWH’s budget. That is unacceptable,” he said.

Lacson warned that while many of the insertions were tagged “For Later Release,” this could hurt the economy as properly vetted projects may be deprived of funding.

He reiterated his call for transparency in budget deliberations, particularly during the period of individual amendments in plenary.

“The Senate must lead the way in this regard, at least by revealing the identities of the proponents of such individual amendments,” he said.

Lacson urged lawmakers to exercise self-restraint in the 2026 budget process, noting that public outrage over corruption should push Congress to reform the way it handles the national budget.

“I hope that in 2026, we will practice self-restraint. The people are angry so we must reform the way we pass the budget,” he said.