MANILA — Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson pushed for the inclusion of ₱250 million in the 2026 national budget to fund the newly reorganized Judicial Integrity Office (JIO), saying it is needed to strengthen the Judiciary’s campaign against corruption.

During his interpellation of the Judiciary’s proposed 2026 budget, Lacson said operationalizing the JIO would help reinforce accountability among judges, officials, and court employees.

“I’m interested in this. (This is part of the) signs of the times (because) as the nomenclature suggests, JIO will be primarily tasked to promote integrity and to address issues of corruption within the Judiciary,” he said.

“While the consciousness is high in addressing corruption, maybe this is the proper time to assist the Supreme Court and the Judiciary to organize immediately the JIO,” he added.

Lacson said the proposed P250-million allocation is minimal compared to the “hundreds of billions of pesos” lost to corruption, including what he described as irregularities in the 2025 budget, where he earlier flagged a P100-billion insertion.

“During the period of amendments we can introduce an amendment in the amount of P250 million, considering we were talking about hundreds of billions just yesterday,” he said.

Finance subcommittee chair Francis Pangilinan, who sponsored the Judiciary’s budget, noted that Finance Committee chair Sherwin Gatchalian appeared supportive, saying Gatchalian was “nodding his head.”

Lacson also expressed hope that the recently enacted Republic Act 12233, or the Judicial Autonomy Act, would enable the Judiciary to propose its own budget starting with the 2027 fiscal year.

He questioned the significant reduction in the Judiciary’s 2026 funding by the Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC). The Judiciary sought ₱90.7 billion but received only ₱67.66 billion under the National Expenditure Program.

“I’m wondering, they asked for P90 billion, tapos bibigyan ng P67 billion at sinasabi kulang. But as we know ang ibang executive department (agencies), parang wallowing in allocations,” he said.