By Wilnard Bacelonia
MANILA – Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday and Senate Committee on Finance chair Sherwin Gatchalian will work with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to realign at least PHP51.82 billion in questionable “distinct” insertions under the proposed 2026 national budget.
Lacson flagged the lump-sum allocations, which he described as vague and potentially prone to misuse, during a briefing of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).
He noted that the items included multiple entries for flood management programs in Metro Manila and Regions 1 (Ilocos), 2 (Cagayan Valley), and 3 (Central Luzon) with identical costs but lacking specific project details.
“Sen. Gatchalian and I want to remove these vague entries in the NEP (National Expenditure Program). It seems those who inserted these items plan to make them ghost projects. We could not identify who inserted them,” Lacson said.
He said the goal is to redirect the funds to priority programs consistent with the Philippine Medium-Term Development Plan.
“When we amend the budget bill, we intend to realign these items… so our amendments will be aligned with the direction that the national government wants to take,” he added.
Among the flagged appropriations were 88 items worth PHP150 million each (PHP13.2 billion), 373 items worth PHP100 million each (PHP37.3 billion), and 11 items worth PHP120 million each (PHP1.32 billion).
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, who was present at the DBCC hearing Tuesday, agreed to coordinate with Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon on the realignment, following Lacson’s call for executive sessions to determine which projects should receive funding.
In his privilege speech last Aug. 20, Lacson described the repeated allocations with the same contract cost as “distinct,” a coded budget system that he said signals project ownership and raises the risk of ghost projects.
“When contractors invade Congress and lawmakers invade the construction business, this is the outcome,” Lacson warned, adding that vague insertions hit Filipinos with a “quadruple whammy” as they appear in the NEP, the House and Senate versions of the budget, and in the bicameral conference committee. (PNA)
