MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday renewed his call to abolish the "leadership fund" or allocables from the national budget, branding it not merely as a "worse version the outlawed pork barrel system."
Lacson said the leadership provided lawmakers opportunity to make insertions even during the preparation stage of the national budget.
"Leadership fund is not only a descendant of the outlawed 'pork barrel' but also its worst version. Why would members of Congress dip their hands in the budget preparation phase outside of the local development councils preparation of the their local development plans where they are allowed to represent their districts?" he said.
Lacson issued the statement a day after former Public Works secretary Manuel Bonoan told the Sandiganbayan that all senators have at least P500 million of allocations for their priority projects in the so-called “leadership funds” earmarked under the agency's budget last year.
Bonoan said a total of P24 billion was allotted for senators, but the amount for each lawmaker was supposedly subject to the discretion of then Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Zubiri denied this, saying he "never requested, held, or handled any list of project requests from senators."
Meanwhile, Malacanang said there was no so-called "leadership funds" for senators in the proposed P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been "very cautious" not to repeat past mistakes.
Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro stressed this when sought for comment on Bonoan's testimony.
Castro said that the President, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon, and the Departmennt of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Kim Robert de Leon have been very careful in preparing the 2027 National Expenditure Program amid the controversy that hounded the 2026 budget.
"Para kung anuman iyong pang-aabuso na nangyari, way back na nakita na noon, 2018 pa, ayaw pong mangyari ito ng Pangulo (So that whatever abuse [of the budget] that had happened way back as early as 2018, the President would not want to that to happen again)," Castro said.
During a press briefing, Castro said she sought clarification from the DPWH on the matter. She said that according to the DPWH, there was "no leadership fund under 2027 budget."
All projects proposed in a 2027 DPWH budget are "based on needs of the local and regional government."
And if needed, they need to secure clearance from regional development council to ensure that these projects would benefit the people, the Palace press officer said.
"Only projects that have complete the documentary requirements, such as plans, programs are submitted to ensure compliance with DBM guidelines. So, mahigpit po ang DBM (So, the DBM is strict about it)," she added.
