Lacson: ‘Almost all’ senators in 19th Congress inserted P100B in 2025 budget

Metro Manila, Philippines - Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson said “almost all” senators in the 19th Congress inserted at least P100 billion worth of items in the 2025 budget.

In a radio interview on Sunday, Sept. 28, Lacson said he has gathered documents that showed that these were individual insertions eventually held for later release (FLR).

A budget item classified as FLR needs a special allotment release order (SARO) or general allotment release order (GARO) to be released.

Lacson, who chairs the Senate blue ribbon committee, did not name the senators allegedly involved in the questionable insertions.

He said he has yet to check the “long” list of members of the House of Representatives who made similar insertions.

While budget insertions or amendments are not necessarily illegal, he said they were questionable, especially if individual insertions were P5 billion or P9 billion.

"Sa budget deliberation pwede ko tanungin ito bakit pinayagan ito,” Lacson said. “Ang pagbusisi, lalo sa plenary, gusto kong malaman ilan sa siningit na insertion ang na-release at papaano na-implement.”

[Translation: At the budget deliberation, I can ask why these insertions were allowed. In scrutinizing the budget especially in the plenary, I want to know how much of the insertions were released and how they were implemented.]