MANILA — Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said he will not sign the bicameral conference committee (bicam) report on the proposed 2026 national budget unless provisions granting a massive increase to the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) and billions of pesos for farm-to-market roads are corrected.

Lacson drew the line on Sunday following the bicam panel’s decision to raise MAIFIP’s 2026 allocation to ₱51 billion and earmark ₱33 billion for farm-to-market roads.

“Sorry, unless rectified in its final version, I cannot sign to ratify a bicam report with ₱51 billion for MAIFIP, with nothing but guarantee letters from politicians and is not compliant with the Universal Health Care Act,” Lacson said. “Further, I will not associate myself with the ₱33-billion spending for unplanned and unvetted farm-to-market roads.”

Lacson stressed that health-related funds should be consolidated under the Universal Health Care (UHC) program of the Department of Health to ensure full implementation of the law.

“Unless we adequately fund the UHC programs such that they cover all barangays and ensure zero billing, among others, we cannot fully implement the UHC law that we passed,” he said. “Guarantee letters from politicians will only guarantee patronage politics but not the health care needs of Filipinos, especially the indigents.”

During the first day of bicam deliberations on Saturday, lawmakers raised MAIFIP’s proposed 2026 budget to ₱51 billion—higher than the ₱42 billion allocation in 2025 and even above the House’s initial ₱49 billion proposal, which the Senate had earlier reduced to ₱29 billion.

The bicam panel also approved ₱33 billion for farm-to-market roads, exceeding both the ₱32 billion allocation in the House version of the budget and the ₱16 billion proposed under the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

Lacson has long flagged MAIFIP as vulnerable to political patronage, noting that the program allows officials to issue guarantee letters for indigent patients. One of his priority measures, Senate Bill No. 404, seeks to place MAIFIP under the UHC framework and penalize political exploitation and manipulation of the program.

He also questioned the proposed funding for farm-to-market roads, particularly whether the list of projects to be financed—potentially through the realignment of ₱255.5 billion in flood control funds—originated from the Department of Agriculture or from members of Congress.

Unless the questioned provisions are addressed, Lacson said he will withhold his signature from the final bicam report on the 2026 budget.